
Class. 
Book. 



,M^5 



THE AMERICAN VOLUISTEER 



Ml I.HOLLAND 



The American '. 



'.rrf 



AOPLD H-.S 



Xr.- 



ST. ::- - - 



S e t > ' ! • : Ri^DT-jrrtfri 



■M9o 






PREFACE. 



The most astonishing thing connected with the history of 
the W.ir of \f^CA to 1865 was the heroism displayed by the Amer- 
ican \'ohnitecr. We have reason to expect deeds of valor 
from the standing armies of tlie world, from men whose sole 
duty is to drill and spend their whole lives in preparation to 
fight; men trainetl to anns and supposed to be ever ready to 
die in defense of their country, but the records of all the braverv 
and self sacrifice of all nations of the earth pale and become 
as nothing when compared with tlie heroism of tlie volunteer 
annics of 1861 to 1865. Xot in tlie history of the world is there 
a record of any regiment or battery losing 50 per cent, in killed 
and wounded in a single battle until our War of the Rebellion, 
and we must remember this fact wlien recalling the gallantrv 
of our own people. The annics of England did great deeds 
during the centuries [xist ; the veterans of Xapolcon left the 
mcmorv of tlieir splendid fighting on many gory fields, but the 
volunteers of America, b<}th in indi\idual heroism and the 
gallantry displayed by them as an organization, have excelled 
every ann\- tliat e\er marcherl on earth. The farmer who, in 
1861, left his plow in the furrow; the merchant who closed his 
store; the clerk wlio threw down the pen; the workman who 
left the mill, and the schoolboy his books, fonning regiments 
and batteries to go to the front, proved better, nobler and more 
heroic soldiers than anv others known in historv. 



PREFACE. 

I have said that no command of any nation in any war ever 
lost 50 per cent, killed and wounded in a single engagement 
except our own army, and there we find dozens of regiments 
that suffered that loss and more. 

The writer has contributed since the close of the Civil War 
to "The Philadelphia Public Ledger" several articles treating 
on the subject. 

The articles in question were much sought after, and, as 
copies of the paper cannot now be obtained, I have had them 
printed in pamphlet form, together with a brief statement of 
the battles in which the commands spoken of were engaged; 
and this is the apology for printing this little book and I offer 
it as a tribute to my comrades. "The American Volunteer," 
the most heroic soldiers the world has ever knoAvn. 

In preparing these articles for the paper I regret that I found 
it impossible to procure data of a similar character in regard 
to the heroism of the Southern soldiers as well, for thc}^ were 
just as brave and just as heroic as their brothers of the North. 
Were thev not so the losses of the Nothem army would not 
have been so terrible; and now, as Americans, while we can- 
not endorse their cause, we must admire their soldierly quali- 
ties and their heroism. In the words of Mr. McKinley, 'The 
bitterness of the war belongs to the past. Its glories are the 
common heritage of us all. What was won in the great con- 
flict belongs just as sacredly to those who lost as to those who 
triumphed. 

ST. CLAIR A. MULHOLLAXD. 

Phil.\delphia, January 29, 1909 



HEROISM 

OF THI; 

AMERICAN VOLUNTEER 



EXTRACTS FROM PHILADELPHIA PUBLIC LEDGER 

l-RL-;Dl-:iUCKSBrRG. 

rtcncral George B. McClcllan fouglit and won the battle of 
Antietam September 16 and 17. 1862. Then, resting with the 
army at Harper's Ferry until ( )ctober 26th, on the evening of 
that day broke camp and moving down the Lowden Valley, 
marched to assume the offensive. On the evening of November 
7th he had concentrated the anny of the Potomac at Warren- 
ton Arriving at that point, he was relieved of the command 
of the anny by order of the President, and CFcneral Ambrose 
Bumside took his place. 

Bumside at once resumed the march towards the south, the 
objective point the Confederate capital. Richmond. On the 
evening of November 1 7th the head of the column arrived on 
the banks of the Rappahannock River at the old town of Fal- 
mouth, nearly opposite the ancient citv of Fredericksburg. 
The town was occupied at that time bv ColtKiel Ball, with the 
l.'^th \'irginia Cavalry, four com])anics of Mississippi infantry 
and Lewis's Battery. Pettit's Battery of our army was rushed 
to the front by General Sumner, and exchanged a few shots 
with the Confederates on the opposite bank, but. as we had no 
pontoons with the amiv (by some blundering they had not 
arrived^ it was impossible for our forces to cross, and so our 
armv went into camp. 

The days and weeks slipped by, giving the anny of Northern 
\ irginia, under command of General Robert H. Lee, ample 



6 HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. 

time to concentrate in our front and fortify the long range of 
hills in the rear of the town. In the early days of December, 
General Burnside resolved to cross and give battle. His first 
idea was a flank movement by way of Skenker's Neck, twelve 
miles below the city, but was abandoned almost as soon as 
thought of. Then Burnside resolved to throw pontoons across 
the river opposite the city, and cross and give battle there, 
and so, on the evening of the 11th of December, 1862, pon- 
tooniers commenced building the bridges, which were completed 
by noon of the 12th with great difficulty. Then the Army of 
the Potomac, more than one hundred thousand men, crossed 
and found themselves on historic ground. 

It was near the Falls of the Rappahannock, now within the 
limits of the City of Fredericksburg, that Capt. John Smith 
anchored his little vessel and fought the Indians in 1608. 

Near Fredericksburg was opened the first iron mine ever 
worked in America, from the products of which were made the 
cannon balls and cannon that served the Sons of the Revolu- 
tion in their battles for freedom. 

Near this city, also, Virginia's famous Governor, Spotswood, 
whose name is still green in the annals of America, had his 
home. Near Fredericksburg, also, George Washington was 
bom, and in that city spent his boyhood days with his mother, 
growing into the man who was to make the greatest civil and 
military record in history. 

From that historic town he went to join the army under Brad- 
dock, and began the career that made him the foremost Amer- 
ican of all times. It was in that city that his mother was vis- 
ited by Lafayette and other famous patriots and statesmen; 
and it was there, too, this noble woman died and was buried. 
That venerable city appears, therefore, to be closely connected 
with the revolutionary and pre-revolutionary history of this 
country. 

Fredericksburg is the most historic spot of the most historic 
State of the Union. Almost within sight of its towers were 
bom some of the foremost and greatest men of the country. 
Washington, Monroe, JefiFerson, Madison and Lee were all from 



HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. 7 

the section of tlie country in wliich that city and the battlefields 
nuuied arc situated. In \'ir^inia the war of secession began 
und ended. 

The battle i)f Fredericksburg began on the morning of De- 
ceml)cr 13th by the advance of the Pennsylvania Reser\es, 
under command of General George Gordon Meade, — the in- 
tention to attack and turn the right flank of the Confederate 
army, that rested on the heights near Captain Hamilton's. 
No sooner had Meade's Division become engaged than our 
whole left wing, under command of General William B. Frank- 
lin, became involved and the battle raged. While the severe 
figliting was taking place on the extreme left of our line, French 
and Hancock's Divisions of the 2nd Corps were ordered to 
storm Maryc's Heights in the rear of the town. Marching out 
Hanover street, under a heavy fire of solid shot and shell, they 
gained the fields, deployed and moved forward in line. By 
the time they reached the base of Marye's Heights, forty per 
cent, of the force had been killed or wounded — no hope or 
cliancc of breaking through the Confederate centre, or carrNnng 
their strong line of works, and what was left of tliosc commands 
began falling back. 

On the left the battle had gone against our forces, and that 
portion of our line was also driven back, and the battle of Fred- 
ericksburg was practically ended. 

At sundown Buniside resolved to make another attempt to 
carrv Marye's Heights, and ordered out Hooker with his gal- 
lant a^mmand. At ^indown Hooker's men debouched from 
the town, deployed in the fields, and passing over the ground 
strewn with the dead of I'rench and Hancock's divisions, the 
dark mass hurled themselves against the Confederate position 
but were driven back with great slaughter. On the evening 
of the 14tli, all the troops were withdrawn to the northern bank 
of the river, and tlie autumn campaign closed. 

CHANXHLLORSVILLE. 

Shortly after the battle of Fredericksburg General Bumside 
was relieved from the command of the Armv of the Potomac, 



8 HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. 

and was succeeded by General Joseph Hooker. General Hooker 
after reorganizing the army, prepared to assume the offensive. 
Instead of repeating the blunder of General Bumside in cross- 
ing to attack in the enemy 's front, Hooker resolved on a flank 
movement, and, marching the army up the banks of the river 
crossed at Kelly 's and United States Fords, and began march- 
ing down the south bank of the river to get in rear of the Con- 
federate position at Fredericksburg. The movement began 
on April 27, 1863, and by the evening of the 30th nearly all the 
army was across the river and marching down towards Freder- 
icksburg. General Ropert E. Lee, who commanded the Con- 
federate army of Northern Virginia, having discovered Hooker 
on his flank, promptly moved out of his works in rear of Fred- 
ericksburg and marched to meet him, leaving a small force, 
however, to hold the line of works at Fredericksburg. The 
two armies met at a place called Chancellorsville, about nine 
miles from Fredericksburg, and the battle commenced May 2, 
raged on the 2d, 3d and 4th, when our army was once more 
defeated, and during the night of the 5th, fell back and recrossed 
the river. 

The Battle of SALEM CHURCH, or SALEM HEIGHTS, as it 
is sometimes called. 

When General Hooker moved with the army to fight the 
battle of Chancellorsville, he left behind General Sedgwick 
with our Sixth corps with orders to cross at Fredericksburg as 
soon as Lee vacated the position, carry the heights, and get 
in the rear of the Confederate army as they marched to meet 
our forces. Sedgwick threw pontoons across, occupied the 
city of Fredericksburg, and, after a very sharp fight (and this 
is generally known as the second battle of Fredericksburg) 
with the force that Lee had left behind he succeeded in carry- 
ing the heights, and then began his march to get in Lee's rear 
at Chancellorsville. Lee, discovering the movement, promptly 
detached one of his corps to meet Sedgwick. These forces met 
at Sakm Church, or Salem Heights, between Fredericksburg 
and Chancellorsville, and a very severe engagement took place, 



micrdism or Tui; .\mi:i<ic.\\ \()i,t\Ti:r:R. 9 

but witlittul practical results, Sedgwick being without help, 
was compilk'd also to recnjss the river. The two armies, 
shortly after tliese battles m irched and fought the battle of 
Gettysburg in I'ennsyKania. After Gettysburg both armies 
once more returned to X'irginia. and through the succeeding 
autumn and winter m irched and counter-m irched, fighting 
at Rappahannock Station, at the difTerent gaps of the Blue 
Ridge. Mine Run and Bristow Station. Auburn, Catlett's Sta- 
tion. Bealeton Station and other points. 

In the early spring of 1864, General Grant being in command 
(if all the armies, with his headquarters with the Armv of the 
Potomac, and General George Gordon Meade being in immediate 
ctmm md of the Army of the Potomic. the campaign of the 
Wildenicss and succeeding battles was inaugurated. 

Tin: WILDERXESS. 

C)n the evening of May 3, 1864. the Army of the Potomac 
qmetly withdrew from the camp, crossed the Rapidan by the 
difTerent fords, and struck the enemy along the Brock Road 
within a few miles of the battlefield of Chancellorsville. The 
battle opened at noon of May 5th, raged the entire day and 
long into the night, was promptly renewed at daybreak on the 
morning of the 6th. continuing all day. On the evening of that 
day General Grant resolved to move the army by the left flank, 
and try to pierce the enemy's lines at another point, striking 
liini first at Todd's Tavern on the 7th and Stli; still moving by 
the flank, attacking at Laurel Hill and Alsop's Farm on the 
*Hh. and on this day General Grant sent to the President the 
fam >us message that he would "fight it out on this line if it 
t<H>k all summer. ■' On the 10th was fought tlie battle of Po 
River; on the 12th was fought tlie deadly battle of Spottsyl- 
\ania. where Hancock captured the Confederate General, 
Stewart, and four thousand prisoners. On the 13th the battle 
omtinued nearly all day. the firing close and deadly. The 
three days following were marked by heavv picket firing and 
severe losses on both sides — almost one continuous battle. On 
the ISth occurred the battle of Spottsylvania Court House 



10 HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. 

about two or three miles to the left of where the battle of Spott- 
sylvania proper was fought. On the evening of the 19th Ewell's 
Corps of the Confederate Army made a fierce attack on our 
Second Corps on the old Fredericksburg Road, but was beaten 
off. On the 21st a portion of our army fought at Milford Sta- 
tion. On the 24th and 25th was fought the battle of the North 
Anna. On the 27th fought at the Pamunkey River. On the 
28th, Sheridan's Cavalry fought the battle of Haw's Shop, a 
very severe engagement. On May 30th and 31st was fought 
the battle of Tolopotomy Creek. June 3rd the bloody battle 
of Cold Harbor, ending the first month's campaign of 1864, 
with continuous fighting almost day and night. Grant, finding 
it impossible to crush the enemy in his front and so capture the 
Confederate capital by direct attack, abandoned the effort at 
Cold Harbor in front of Richmond, marched across country, 
crossing the James River and laying siege to the city of Peters- 
burg, about twenty miles to the south of Richmond, the fight- 
ing commencing there June 15th and continuing night and day 
without intermission until the 9th of April following, 1865, 
when victory crowned our efforts, and the Union was saved. 

THE BLOODIEST SPOT ON EARTH. 

Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Salem Church, The 

Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Spottsylvania Court 

House, Todd's Tavern, Po River, Bank's Ford. 

Fifty miles south of the capital of our country there is an 
old Virginia city, quiet, quaint and beautiful — Fredericksburg 
on the Rappahannock. There is a peculiar charm about the 
ancient town, and it is replete with historic interest. Mary, 
the venerable mother of Washington, lived and died at Freder- 
icksburg, and there the Father of his Country would often 
come to visit her. It was before the days of steam and train, 
and at least a day and a half from Mt. Vernon by coach and 
four was necessary when Washington made a call of affection 
on the old lady. It is not at all likely that Mary Washington 
ever saw her son after he became President, as she died in Octo- 



HEROISM OF THr: AMHRICAN' V< UJNTHKR. 11 

bcr, 1789, Washington liaving been inaugurated in New York 
I'll April 30 of tlic same year, the distance separating son and 
mother being very great in those days of stage coaches. She 
had, however, the satisfaction of knowing of the final success 
"f tlie Revolution and of the great honors paid to her distin- 
guished son. 

The old homestead of Mary Washington is still standing, 
and just in the rear, with only the garden separating, is "Kin- 
more," the house of her son-in-law. Colonel Fielding Lewis, 
another old-time colonial mansion, and very interesting it is. 
The Hessians, after the surrender of Cornwallis, were camped 
for some time on the plantation, and there were artists among 
tlum who decorated the interior of "Kinmore" witli plastic 
oniaments of much merit. Colonel Lewis was married to Betty, 
the sister of Washington, and the mother loved to stroll through 
the flowers of the back garden and over to "Kinmore" to spend 
the e\ening and take tea with Betty Lewis. 

Marv Washington was buried in the field just outside of 
the town. Ikr monument stood in full \ iew of the I'nion and 
Confederate lines during the battle, and was smashed and 
shattered by the shells of Ixith armies, the fragments still lying 
scattered on the ground. After the war the ladies of the south 
raised a more costly and stately memorial by the grave, and 
because of their love for the meniorv of the mother of Wash- 
ington, we say: "God bless tlie ladies of the South !" 

About twelve miles south from Fredericksburg is Spottsyl- 
vania Court House, and alx)ut the same distance west, perhaps 
a little more, is the Wilderness Tavern. Draw a line from 
each of these jKjints to the others — from I' red cricks burg to 
Spt)ttsylvania. thence to the Wilderness Tavern, and back to 
Fretlericksburg — and you have a triangle in which were fought 
several of the greatest battles of the War of the Rebellion. 
Or, perhaps better still, draw a circle— sav, twelve miles, or a 
little more, in diameter — ^with FVedcricksburg. Spottsylvania 
and the Wilderness Taveni on the outer edge, and inside that 
circle were fought the battles of the first and second FVedericks- 
burg, Chana'llorsville, Salem Heights, the Wilderness, Po 



12 HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. 

River, Todd's Tavern, Laurel Hill, Spottsylvania, Spottsylva- 
nia Court House, Mine Run and several minor fights and en- 
gagements. 

Within the circle more men have, perhaps, been killed and 
wounded than on any ground of equal area on earth. Forty 
years have made but little change in the appearance of th,; 
country. Signs of war are still strongly in evidence, the whole 
land torn, seamed and crossed in all directions by earthworks 
and revetements. Here and there are a few scattered farms, 
where the plowshare oftentimes turns up human bones, and 
where little children run out to the roadside to offer to the pass- 
ing stranger relics of war, rusted bayonets, burst shells and mould- 
ering rifles, on which years of exposure have left their marks. 

The Wilderness is as of yore, and but little changed. Woods 
solemn and lonely; primeval forests, where the wild turkey 
finds a home, where the piping quail greets the morning and 
the whooping owl and melancholy whip-poor-will make evening 
sad ; their song, harmonizing with the wind sobbing through 
the templed trees, sounds an eternal requiem over ground 
forever consecrated by martyr blood. Intervals there are 
where the undergrowth is rich and luxuriant, but dead trunks 
of massive trees, charred and blackened by fire, mark spots 
where flames swept over the fighting line, burning up alike 
the dead and the wounded. 

The same remarkable and appalling percentage of killed 
and wounded in individual commands in single engagements 
that has made the world's record for heroism was repeated 
time and again on every battlefield within the circle of fire and 
blood. Let us recall some of the organizations that lost 50 
per cent., or more, on this ground, keeping in mind that there 
is no record of any European regiment that ever lost so great 
a percentage in battle. 

THE FIRvST FREDERICKSBURG, DECEMBER 13, 1862, 
was redolent with heroic deeds. The fact that the battle 
was a mistake and a blunder, and the sacrifice useless, detracts 
not from the honor that is rendered to brave men; but 
when we recognize the fact that the troops marched to death, 



ni:K<»ISM < •!•• T!!!' AMFCKICAN VoIANTKliR. 13 

kiiuwinjj how hoptk-ss Ihe stnigglc, wc must acknowledge the 
fact but adds to their glory. 

The Twentieth Massachusetts was a great regiment, and 
lost at Fredericksburg 6S.4 i)er cent, killed and wounded. It 
was in Norman Hall's Brigade of the Second Corps. The fire 
of Rarksdale's Brigade of Mississippians was so deadly that it 
was found imi)ossible to construct the pontoon bridge opposite 
the city, and the engineers were forced to give up the job. The 
fire of one hundred and fiftv guns was concentrated on the 
river front, but e\en that failed to drive back the Confederate 
ritlimeii. Tlieir fire was still sulTiciently elTectivc to prevent 
the completioTi of the bridge. It was then that the brigade 
of N'orman Hall took up the work. Tlic Seventh Michigan 
and Nineteenth Maine, maiming the boats, rowed across under 
the terrific fire, antl leaped ashore to attack the enemy. The 
Twentieth Massachusetts was one of the first regiments to cross, 
and to it was assigned the task of clearing the streets of the 
town. In colr.mn of ct>mpanies, led by Captain George X. 
Macy, the ctnimand forced its way literally inch by inch, met 
by a severe and deadly musketry fire from housetops and win- 
dows, but finally succeeded in reaching the main street, the 
Confederates gi\ ing up the struggle and retiring to the heights 
beyond the citv. It was a gallant fight and cost the Twentieth 
just 68.4 per cent, in killed and wounded and not one missing. 
The command had fought on the Peninsula, at Antietam, and 
on every battlefield from the very beginning, and after Freder- 
icksburg there was but little left of it. I'our months afterwards 
it fought at Chanccllorsville, and seven months afterwards 
went into action at Cicttysburg with 230 otVicers and men and 
lost 124 of tlum killed and wounded. The regiment had a 
remarkable fatality in field and staff officers — the noble Colonel 
Paul Revere killed at (icttNsburg; Lieutenant Colonel Ferdi- 
nand I'reher killed at Fredericksburg: Major Henry L. Abbott 
killed at the Wilderness; Major Henry L. Patton killed at Deep 
Bottom; Surgeon Fflward H. Revere killed at Antietam: and 
Adjutant Henry M. Bond killed in the Wilderness. This regi- 
ment had, all tuld, eighteen commissioned othcers killed in 



14 HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. 

battle. Captain George N. Macy was the senior captain — but 
a very young man — and, as acting major, commanded the 
regiment in the battle. When General Howard asked Colonel 
Hall who was to command the leading regiment and he pointed 
to Macy, Howard exclaimed, "What, that boy!" Colonel 
Hall replied, "Yes, that boy is all right and will lead it, and 
the regiment will follow anywhere you wish." The "boy" 
afterwards lost an arm at Gettysburg, and at the close of the 
war was a Brigadier-General and Brevet Major-General. 

Meade's advance on the left, where, with the Pennsylvania 
Reserves, he struck the right of the Confederate line at Hamil- 
ton Heights, was a wonderful and brilliant charge. Looking 
over the plain where the charge was made, and remembering 
that it was swept by the enemy's artillery, one is astonished 
to think that the Reserves ever reached the Confederate line, 
but they did, and drove it in and back through the timber, 
and, in a hand-to-hand fight, Sergeant Charles C. Upjohn, of 
the Second Reserves, tore from the hands of the color-bearer 
the flag of the Nineteenth Georgia Regiment, the only flag 
captured in the battle. Had Meade been left to his fate and 
not promptly supported, the Pennsylvania Reserv^e division 
that he so nobly led would have been annihiliated ; but General 
B. Franklin, seeing the trouble, promptly put in nearly the 
whole of the Left Grand Division, and the Reserves were saved 
but not until after having met with appalling loss. Gibbon's 
Division of the First Corps went into action on the right of the 
Reserves, and two regiments of that command were distin- 
guished, not only because of the great loss, but of the splendid 
fight they made, the Sixteenth Maine losing 54 per cent, killed 
and wounded, and the Twenty-sixth New York 56 per cent. 

The Sixteenth Maine was not exactly a new regiment, but 
had never been under fire until the morning of Fredericksburg. 
On that day it proved itself one of the finest regiments that 
ever left the Pine Tree State, and Colonel Charles W. Tilden 
made a name for himself in the half hour that the command 
was under fire. Seeing that he was losing many of his men 
while holding a position to which he had been assigned, he led 



HKKoISM OF Till-: AMIiKICAN Vi HANTKER. 15 

a remarkably successful charge on the works in his front, cap- 
turing several hundred prisoners, and in the hand-to-hand 
figlit the bayonet was not only used freel\-, but relied upon al- 
most entireh-. The regiment advanced unsupported and alone, 
and, after taking the line of works, pushed into the woods and 
struck an overwhelming force of the enemy. Colonel Tilden 
was compelled to order a retreat, but not until he had left just 
54 per cent, of his command dead and wounded on the ground. 
Tlie first one stnick was the youngest soldier in the regiment. 
.•\s the line was moving forward, Benny Worth, a boy of 15, 
was stnick in the head by a piece of shell. For a moment he 
was stunned and dazed, but, quickly recovering himself and 
pushing tlic blood back out of his eyes, he laughed and said, 
"All right, this is what I came for." He was ordered to go to 
the rear; but no —he quietly picked up his musket and went on. 
never giving up until the last shot was fired. Charley and 
Monroe Lyford were marching side by side, they were brothers, 
and Charley was one of the brightest and handsomest bovs in 
the regiment. He fell dead, and Monroe, as he saw him fall, 
became frenzied with anger, and, leaping over the works with 
tlie fury of a madman and with lightning speed, began bavonet- 
ing right and Kft, screaming, "Vou ha\e killed my brother; 
curse you !" 

'Hie horrors of the battle are never so great as to prevent a 
smile, and a veritable laugh passed through the ranks when a 
piece of shell stnick one of the boy's knapsacks, tore it open 
and lifted a pack of cards high in the air, intact, when thev 
sud<icnly spread out and came down like a shower of autumn 
leaves. 

The Twentv sixth N'ew York was in the Ijrigadc, commanded 
bv Colonel Peter Lyle. The regiment went into action com- 
mande<i by Colonel Gilbert S. Jennings. He fell wounded 
early in the day, and Major Kzra T. Wetmore commanded. 
The regiment fought side by side with the Nineteenth Penn- 
s\lvania Infantry, from this city, and the two commands were 
placed in jxisition by Colonel Peter Lvle. I regret that I can- 
not give particulars of the fight of the Twenty-sixth. Xo 



hisLz*— ■ c: the rezine^t h^^ been published and ro data obtain- 






azi ---iT-t-i 2;ack m derei*. Ii lock great ccurage to acvance 



Ic D. 



tasc of ^'lar'.'c's Heights 



Ct' the rallart di'>iso- that Harcock led forward exactly 
-r" 2 c-tr rert. "were dead ard wcnmded on the frozen groiind. 
Tne r^rsz Brlrade. General Cald^eH. had lost 50 per cent. 
tfHez. and "^^cnnded, and sis of the seventeen resinients that 
c-:m-c sed the di-dsicn ha.d ea<i k>st 5-1' per cent, or over. None 
■s^ere r~.:;:?:r.r. and no priscner? "^rere left in the hands of the 

the Sirtv-rdnth Xe^ York, -arith 53 per cent.: then the Fifty- 
third Penns;}"ivanda. Sei*enth Xe-s- York and Eighty-eighth 



HER- ISM "F THE A'! .-IS I CAN V :LI.VTEER 17 

Fifty-third Pennsylvania Regiment "sras ocm ni.^.r.ded by Colonel 
John R Brooke, now a M. - ~ - — ■ •- - r'lr army. 
Hancock said of him B' i to per- 

lonn the highest s<-r.-ice to h . and added to the laurels 
be and ^ ^ ••-.,-_- - _ ^ — . • 

The ; - ittk 

by Colonel H. Boyd McKetm. a noble yoong oJScer. who was 

wr - : • -. " 1 _ - -1 F-ederlcksbur^ and ChanctlSors^.-ille, 
ar. r 

The Kiith New Hampshire was led into the hght by Ccionel 
Edward E Cross, who, six m-'""~ " — 'is. -^vas killed at 
Gett>-sburg He fell early in • .ih 5ve -^z'-is^is. 

Major Edward E. Sturtevant then took otnmiand. and a as 
alrr. - - -' '■ " ' ^ - ^ -- " —.- ani M'>ire 

ar. . lead in quick 

succession The cok)r sergeant and all the coior guards went 
(jr — - ^ ^ - — ' - • ^g 

re. 

The Insh and the Germans fought nobly side by side for the 
la-^ - - -^ .■ • -■ - - • : 

T: 

Robert Nugent, who fell badly wounded. Nineteen comniis- 
s>'>^ • ~" -; the nght with him. and sixteen o: them 

wt : 1 

The Seventh New York .German' was ormmanded by Col-o- 
ne! " 

of , 

Schack was a handsome and accc'mplishei o:5cer He was a 
captain of cavalr>- in the arc. o:' '^ >ec-.:r . 

years' leave of absence, he cime out o rr'Tr. - 

New York regiment He was as brave as he was handsome 
Alter ''■ ' - in the 

servTCt rk. Be 

lieving thai to be an .\mericin atizen was better than to be a 
German ofScer ht ' .: his p«apers an 

fledgtxi .\niencan. ^ , .hat he was as i. 

gallant and brave 



18 HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. 

It is difficult to say just what regiment went furthest, or 
what colors were carried nearest to the celebrated stone wall, 
and it is of little moment, as they all were close, and it is a 
question of a few yards, but there seems to be but little doubt 
of the fact that the bodies found nearest to the mouth of the 
Confederate guns were those of Major Horgan and Adjutant 
Young, of the Eighty-eighth New York. 

The casualties among the officers were unusually great. The 
field officers were ordered to dismount and go in on foot, and 
regimental commanders walked in front of the colors. This 
would account in a manner for the severe loss, as the colors 
were conspicuous marks for the enemy. Many of the regiments 
had three or four commanders during the day. The Fifth 
New Hampshire had five commanders, the first four being 
killed or wounded. The Sixty-ninth New York was brought 
off the field by the fourth commander, the first three being 
killed or wounded. Colonel Nelson A. Miles commanded his 
own regiment, Sixty-first New York, and also the Sixty-fourth 
of that State. The third commander brought the two regi- 
ments from the field. Hancock says of Miles: "He was 
severely wounded, and conducted himself in the most admirable 
and chivalrous manner, and his command behaved with a stead- 
iness unsurpassed by any other troops." While Miles was 
badly wounded, he recovered quickly enough to be present at 
Chancellorsville, less than five months afterwards, to be ter- 
ribly wounded once again, distinguish himself still more and 
gain a Congress Medal of Honor. The Chancellorsville wound 
was pronounced by the surgeons mortal, the ball passing 
through the bowels and fracturing the pelvic bone. The doc 
tors said that he had no right to live, and declared that he could 
not, and for the honor of the faculty he should certainly have 
died, but he still lives. Miles is a hard man to kill, anyhow. 

The One Hundred and Forty-fifth Pennsylvania had two 
commanding officers, Colonel H. L. Brown, of Erie, being 
wounded. The One Hundred and Sixteenth Pennsylvania 
was brought from the field by the fourth commander, the 
three field officers being wounded. The Second Delaware had 



m:R«)isM OF Tin: amkkic.w voun'TEER. 19 

three commuiuHug ofl'icers, the first two being wounded. The 
Kightv-first Pennsylvania had four commanding oniccrs, tlie 
first three being shot down. Tlie I'iftx -seventh New York 
had three commanders. The Sixty-third New York had three 
commanders. The SixtN-sixth N'ew York had four. During 
the battle Colonel James J. Hull and Captain Julius Wehle 
were killed, and another ollicer wounded, while in command. 
The color sergeants and color guards of the different commands 
suffered equally witli the officers, many being killed under the 
flags, but never did the colors fall, but gallant souls rushed 
forward to raise them. Not a color was lost. The color ser- 
geant and all the color guard of the Sixty-ninth New York were 
shot down close to the enemy's guns, and when the regiment 
fell back the colors were missing. Two days after, when the 
detail went back to bury the dead, the color staff was found; 
near it lay the color sergeant, cold in death. When they were 
about to lay the body in the shallow grave the flag was found 
tucked into his blouse. In his dying agony he had stripped 
it from the staff and placed it near his lieart. 

CH.WCiaj-ORSX'ILLIv. 

Wliile the fighting at Chancellorsx ille, May 2d and 3d, was 
severe and the losses in both aniiies very great, yet there was 
but one regiment on record that lost in that battle 50 per cent, 
in kille<l and wounded. It was the One Hundred and Forty- 
first Pennsylvania Infantry, recruited in Bradford, Susque- 
hanna and Wayne counties, of this State, by Colonel Henry J' 
Madill The regiment was heavily engaged during the evening 
of the 2(1. and was on the picket line and under fire during the 
entire night of that day. r)n the morning of the 3d it charged 
the enemy's line and fought with the greatest persistence and 
anirage Lieutenant-Coloiu-l Cuy H. Watkins was twice 
wounded, but refused to leave the field, and was finally shot 
llirough the breast and taken prisoner by the enemy. He was 
shortly afterwards exclianged, and was killed in front of Peters- 
burg, June 18. 1864. Captains Abrams J. Swart and James 
L. Mumford and Lieutenant Logan O. Tvler were killed, and 



20 HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. 

Captain Tyler and Lieutenants Ball, Hurst and Atkinson were 
wounded. The color sergeant fell, and Captain Swart seized 
the flag, raised it and fell dead. Twelve of the officers of the 
regiment were killed and wounded, and, notwithstanding the 
fearful loss at Chancellorsville, this magnificent regiment, just 
three months afterwards, lost at Gettysburg 63 per cent, of 
those present, killed and wounded. 

At one time during the heaviest firing the men seemed for 
a moment to waver. Human nature was exhausted and coukl 
stand no more — incessant marching and fighting and want of 
sleep; the men were becoming dazed, and when half the com- 
mand was down, dead or wounded, there came a time when it 
would seem that the brave line would give way. Colonel 
Henry J. Madill quietly took the flag from the hands of the 
Color- bearer, and, planting the staff in the ground, with his 
hand, on the bunting, he burst into song with: 

"Rally round the flag, boys, 
Rally round the flag, 
Shouting the battle cry of freedom." 

The men took up the refrain, new life animated the tired 
souls. Without another word the line braced up, and many 
a man fell with the song on his lips. 

The fighting at the second battle of Fredericksburg was 
severe, and heroic actions were numerous, but as no regiment 
lost 50 per cent, killed and wounded, we shall pass it over. 
However, a day or two afterwards, at Salem Heights, there 
were several commands that met with the losses mentioned. 
The Ninety-fifth Pennsylvania had every second officer and 
man killed or wounded. This splendid Philadelphia regiment 
held an advanced position, where the fighting was desperate 
and severe. The losses among the officers were extremely 
heavy. All the field and staff" were killed or wounded. Colo- 
nel Gustavus W. Town, Lieutenant-Colonel Ehsha Hall, Ad- 
jutant Eugene D. Dunton, Captain D. G. Chapman and Lieu- 
tenant David T. Hailer were killed, and Major Thomas J. 
Town, Captains H. Oscar Roberts and George Weest, and Lieu- 



HHROISM OF THI-; AMIiKK.W V« >l,f.\Ti:ii;R. 21 

tenants Saniiul II. Town, I'laiik Slcwart, SaiiUK-l II. joiies, 
Siuniiel rophim and William J. Oclson were wounded. Tlie 
Nititty-fifth ranks with the Twentieth Massachusetts in having 
the largest number of field and stall ofVicers of any regiment 
kilKd in battlr. eaeh having six. Of the Ninety-fifth, Colonel 
John M (rt)sline and Mijur William H. Hnbbs were killed at 
Guinc"s Mill, Colonel Town, Lieutenant-Colonel Hall and Ad- 
jutant Dunton at Salem Heights, and Lieutenant-Colonel 
Ivlward Carroll fell in the Wilderness. 

The three Town boys wt-re brothers, and the fact of all three 
falling in the same battle, the Colonel being killed and the 
Major and Lieutenant badly wounded, was one of those coin 
cidences that go to show the severity of the fighting. 

In the battle of Salem Heights the One Hundred and Twenty 
first New York made a great record and a noble fight. The 
regiment was recruited in Oswego and Herkimer counties, in 
New York State. The original Colonel was Richard Franchot. 
He resigne<l early in the war to take his seat in Congress, and a 
young graduate of West Point, limory Upton, succeeded him. 
The organization was afterwards called "LTpton's Regulars." 
The regiment made a sweeping charge in this battle, and burst 
through the lines of Confederates. The loss in killed and 
wounded was 62 per cent., and the fight did not last more than 
twentv minutes. Captains Nelson (). Wendell and Thomas S. 
Aniolil and Lieutenants I'^ord, LTpton, Doubleday and Bates 
were killetl. and almost every other oflicer was wovnided. Just 
one year afterwards L^pton led the regiment in a cyclonic charge 
at Six>ttsylvania, in which the connnand again sudered a fear- 
ful loss. Cajitains Butt and I'ish ami Lieutenants Pierce and 
Pettengill were killed. The regiment captured four Confed- 
erate Hags at Rappahannock Station and two at Sailor's Creek. 
During its tenn of service it had fifteen officers killed in battle 
and fourdied of disease, and twenty-seven officers were wounded, 
and onlv two regiments from New York, the Fortieth and Sixty- 
nintli, had more n)en killed in battle. 

Inthr WILDI'RNKSS CANH'Air.N promotion was rapid. An 
officer who remaimxl with his command was sure to be quickly 



22 HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. 

advanced or surely killed. The brigade to which the writer 
was attached began the Wilderness campaign May 5th with 
ten field officers present for duty. Within six weeks six of the 
ten were dead, killed in battle, and the other four were in the 
hospital badly wounded, and the brigade was commanded by 
a captain. The nine brigades of the Second Corps had thirty- 
seven commanders during the first six weeks of that campaign. 
An average of three to each brigade had been killed or wounded. 
The Ninety-third New York Infantry was recruited in Wash- 
ington county of that State, and on the first day of the Wilder- 
ness made the sanguinary record of 60 per cent, killed and 
wounded. The regiment fought in the forest, in front of the 
Brock Road, just to the right of the Orange plank road. It 
was in Hay's brigade of the Second Corps, and was placed in 
position by General Hancock himself. It held the extreme 
right of the corps, and as the head of the column arrived near 
the point of attack Hancock ordered Colonel Crocker to form 
line quickly and move into the woods. Unsupported and alone, 
the brave regiiyient advanced through a dense thicket of bushes, 
briars and bramples, and within five minutes was hotly en- 
gaged. The command had met the head of Heth's division of 
Hill's corps. The regiment made a glorious fight, holding the 
line with unflinching courage, although outnumbered and 
outflanked. Half an hour passed, with no supports or assist- 
ance coming, and the reason then became apparent. General 
Hays, the brigade commander, had been killed ; and hence 
confusion. Colonel Crocker, finding himself in command of 
the brigade, hastened to bring up the other regiments, and not 
a moment too soon. The brave boys of the Ninety-third were 
still on the line, but 60 per cent, of them were dead and wounded. 
After the sun went down and the darkness fell, the survivors, 
after sending the wounded to the rear, gathered picks and 
spades and reverently buried the dead on the line they had held 
so nobly. "Ah," said one of them, "tenderly and with sad 
hearts we buried our dead comrades. Parting with them in 
the dark forest was a sad thing to do. We had long been 
friends tried and true friends ; we had messed together, shared 



HKROISM OF THK AMKRICAN VOLINTEKR. 23 

with tin m our store of rations; drank from the Siime canteen; 
slept under the Siime blanket in all kinds of weather, whether 
the stars were shining or the storms were beating ujxjn us. In 
danger, shoulder to shoulder; in sickness, hands, rough but 
tender, soothing the fevered brow; and so at midnight we had 
tfu-m buried; then, exhausted, we sank to sleep by their new 
made graves until the morning, when the thunder of cannon 
and rattle of musketry awoke us to another day of strife." 
l*'our officers were among the dead and thirteen others were 
sent to tlie rear wounded. 

The State of New Jersey gave to the Union many noble 
regiments, but none superior to the Fifteenth Infantry. It 
fought at I'Vedericksburg, and at Salem Heights lost heavily. 
When the Wilderness campaign opened it had been reduced in 
numbers to fifteen ofl'icers and four hundred and twenty-nine 
muskets, and it crossed the Rapitlan with Grant with this num- 
\)€r. Of the four hundred and forty-four total, three hundred 
fell at Spottsylvania, one hundred and sixteen of them being 
killed. Within two weeks the aimmand was reduced to four 
oflicers and onv hundred and thirty-six muskets, and the color 
sergeant and all the ailor guard, save one, had been killed and 
wounde<l. Corporal Joseph O. Runkle, of the color guard, 
had seized the (lag when the color sergeant fell. A few min- 
utes afterwards he, too, was mortally wounded. He was first 
shot in the right ann, and it fell paralyzed by his side. He 
then raised the colors in his left hand, and insisted up)on carry- 
ing them until the end of the fight, and then he lay down and 
di*-*! The remnant of the regiment fought under Sheridan in 
the Shenaiuioah \'alley, and sustained another terrible per- 
centage of loss at Cedar Creek, where Major Lambert Boeman 
was killed. 

Among tlie regiments with records of having lost 50 per 
cent, killed and wounded in single engagements, those from 
our own State hold a distinguished place. The Forty-ninth 
Pennsvlvania Infantry, was one of the regiments of Hancock's 
original brigade, and with that a)mmand won distinction at 
Willi, inishiii;.;. where, bv its exct-llent work, it contributed 



24 HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. 

greatly to the \'ictory. The command formed one of the twelve 
picked regiments that, led by Colonel Emory Upton, made a 
charge on the enemy's works at Spottsylvania on the evening 
of May 9, 1864. The regiment crossed the Rapidan with five 
hundred and thirty officers and men, and within six days, at 
the Wilderness and Spottsylvania, three hundred and seven- 
teen of them were killed and wounded. In the charge of May 
9th the loss was 57 per cent. On the evening of that day the 
regiment, emerging from the woods where it had formed, was 
met by a sheet of fire from the enemy's rifle pits, but, never 
faltering for a moment, it rushed on, capturing the works, guns 
and many prisoners. The enemy rallying in great force, the 
Forty-ninth was compelled to abandon its captures. The 
return was more terrible than the advance, the enemy swarm- 
ing on the flanks, and the whole plain over which the regiment 
crossed being swept by fire. Colonel Thomas M. Hulings, 
Lieutenant-Colonel John B. INIiles, Captain Robert C. Barr and 
Lieutenant Decatur G. Lytel fell dead, and Captain Stuart 
and Lieutenants Thompson, In-in, Russell, Downing and 
Hylands were wounded. Lieutenant-Colonel Miles at the 
moment of starting, feeling that he was going to be killed, 
made the Adjutant promise to have his body sent home. The 
dead, however, were left in the hands of the enemy, and the 
spot where Colonel Hulings and Lieutenant-Colonel Miles are 
buried is unknown. So they sleep where they fell — no better 
or more honorable sepulchre for a soldier. 

Within the circle we are writing about, more than half a 
million of men fought in the different battles, and nineteen 
general officers were killed — ten Union and nine Confederate. 
The Union Major-Generals were John Sedgwick, Hiram (r. 
Berry and Amiel W. Whipple, Brevet Major-Generals James 
S. Wadsworth and Alexander Hays, Brigadier-Generals George 
D. Bayard, Conrad F. Jackson, Edmund Kirby, James C. Rice 
and Thomas G. Stevenson. The Confederates were Lieuten- 
ant-General Thomas J. (vStonewall) Jackson, Brigadier Generals 
Thomas R. R. Cobb, Junius Daniel, Abner Perrin, Maxey Gregg, 
. F. Paxton, J.M. Jones, Leroy A. Stafford and Micah Jenkins. 



HIvROIsM <}V THi; AMIIKICW Vt'U'XTUEK. 2j 

Sixteen thousand five hundred Union soldiers arc buried 
in the National Cemetery, and many thousands in that dedi- 
cate<i to the Confederates, hut tliis is but a part of the dead. 
Tlie whole ji^round is a \ast cenulerw Chaplain Ilains. of the 
Fifteenth New Jersey, notes in his diary. "We halted in the 
evenitijj for a short time. Private Herry died, and we buried 
him at inidni.^ht in an orchartl, rolling him up in a shelter tent 
and oivering him with green boughs, and then hurried on." 
Again he writes: "We tried to bury our dead comrades, and 
succeeiied in laying Caj)tains Sliimer and Walker, Lieutenant 
Justice and eight others into shallow graves, and then we were 
summoned to follow the regiment, and we had to leave Lieuten- 
ant \'anc«n- and some forty others of the regiment unburied." 

Ves. in tlie gardens and orchards, in the deep woods and 
by murmuring streams, everywhere throughout the region, the 
men oi lx)th armies lie singl\- and in {)latoons, and where the 
forest tires swept througli the lighting ranks their sacred dust 
rests among the fallen leases. Brave men from every state in 
the I'nion met and fought here. 

The splendid fighting and the supreme heroism displayed 
by the citizen-soldiers of IxAh North and South on this ground, 
and on every Ijattlefield of the Civil War, have never been 
cquaknl by any army that ever marched on earth, and will 
never bo excelled while time endures. 

GETTYSBURG. 

July 1st. 2nd .\nm) .3rd, 1863. 

The fighting of both armies at Gettysburg was severe, and 
to understand truly and to estimate properly the fighting 
qualities of the men and the organizations of those annies, one 
must take the cold figures of the {x-rcentage of losses in killed 
and wounded and compare them with similar results in other 
wars and by troops of other nations. When reading the fol- 
lowing article, let us not fail to remember the record of the 
bravest troops in Europe. The Third Westphalian, at Mars 
La Tour, lost 40.4 per cent., killed and wounded; the Garde- 



26 HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. 

Schutzen, at Metz., lost 46.1 per cent.; the Light Brigade, at 
Balaklava, lost 36.7 per cent. Reader, this is a story of brave 
men and splendid organizations and, if I mistake not, tells of 
the greatest loss on record in single engagements in European 
wars. Not one of them lost 50 per cent, in killed and wounded 
in single engagements. Without fear of contradiction, I as- 
sert that in the Union army alone at least sixty-three regiments 
lost more than 50 per cent, killed and wounded in single en- 
gagements, and more than one hundred and twenty regiments 
lost more than 36 per cent, under like circumstances. I am 
asked to write the particulars of these bloody encounters ; to 
do so would be a greater task than I have time for, and the 
glowing story would fill volumes. On the soil of our own State, 
there were at least twenty-three regiments that lost more than 
50 per cent, in killed and wounded during the three sanguinary 
days of the battle, and nine of these were Pennsylvania organ- 
izations. Eight other Northern States — New Jersey, New 
Hampshire, New York, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minne- 
sota and Massachusetts — were also included in this splendid 
around." Let us recall the story of these commands, the or- 
ganizations only that lost 50 per cent, or more at Gettysburg, 
and we can speak of them without in any way detracting from 
the honor of the other commands that may not have met with 
such terrible losses, yet did their whole duty and all that was 
demanded of them. 

The battle on the first day was remarkable, not only for the 
acts of great personal courage, but also for the most heroic 
fighting on the part of organizations. The One Hundred and 
Forty-seventh New York was the first regiment to make the 
great record at Gettysburg. Going into position at the right 
of Cutler's Brigade, and becoming hotly engaged in the very 
start of the fight, Lieutenant-Colonel F. C. Miller, its commander 
fell almost at the first fire, shot in the head. Major George 
Harney then commanded. The regiment fought the Forty- 
second Mississippi, and when the position became untenable 
and the brigade was ordered to the rear, the command to re- 
treat was not received by the One Huiidrcd and Forty-seventh 



HEROISM oK Tin: AMUKICAN VOLUNTEER. 27 

until thf other regiments of the brigade had gone. The One 
Hundred and Forty seventh then stood alone, and not only 
fought the regiment in its front, but was exposed to the fire 
of the Second Mississipjii and Kifty-fifth North Carolina on 
the right flank. The fight was close and deatlly, but Ilaniey 
and his men stood iij) to the work iinlil the orders reached 
tlum to retreat, which they did in good order, with colors 
Hying. The loss of officers and men was appalling, but hardly 
had the splendid organization reached the new position than it 
bt-came engaged in resisting the attack of Ewell's Corps and 
assisted in capturing a part of Iverson's Brigade. But the 
One Hundred and Forty-seventh was not yet ready to rest; 
on the evening of the second day it was rushed over to Culp's 
Hill to reinforce Green's Brigade, and until long after dark 
fought in the dense woods among rocks and fallen timber, 
locating tlie enemy by the tongues of fire that leaped from 
their muskets. This regiment was recruited in Oswego County, 
New \'ork. and it left the great record on Gettysburg's field of 
60 per cent, killed and wounded, more than 20 per cent, being 
killeil outright. 

As the One Hundred and Forty seventh was making its 
glorious record, the Iron Brigade swept forward and entered 
the woods just as Re\nolds was being carried to the rear, dead. 
The West had in that line its noblest sons, there to defend and 
to crimson the soil of our State witli their blood, and what a 
fight they made on that July moniing! Of this brigade the 
Twenty-fourth Michigan lost 64 per cent, killed and wounded 
and, in addition, S.^ missing; the Nineteenth Indiana lost 56 
per cent, and 50 missing; the Second Wisconsin 59 per cent, 
and 5 1 missing ; the Sixth Wisconsin 59 per cent, and 5 1 missing ; 
the Sixth Wisconsin 43 per cent, and 20 missing; the Seventh 
Wiscx>nsin 41 jier cent, and 43 missing. This regiment had 10 
officers and 271 men killed in battle during its term of ser\'ice. 
Taking the five regiments of the Iron Brigade as a whole, we 
find the killed aiul wounded to have been 49.5 per cent., with 
249 missing, many of whom were among the dead. « 

Reader, when vou visit tlic fuld <>f the first day's fight, and 



28 HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. 

you walk past the spot where Reynolds fell, and enter the 
woods where every knarled tree is torn by shot and shell, you 
will see a line of monuments crossing your path. Pause when 
you reach them, stand for a time by the stone that marks the 
center of the Twenty-fourth Michigan Regiment and recall 
the day of the battle. You will then be standing near the 
center of the Iron Brigade. On the right ot that organization 
was the brigade of Roy Stone, and on the left that of Colonel 
Chapman Biddle. Walk the line of these brigades from right 
to left — ah, yes, you may walk the line of the whole First Corps 
— and you cannot step without treading upon ground every 
inch of which was saturated and made sacred by the blood of 
heroes. 

And how did the Twenty-fourth Michigan fight? They 
charged into the woods without taking time to load and, with 
bayonet, driving the enemy across the Willoughby Run, cap- 
tured the Confederate General Archer and many of his men. 
There the well-dressed line waited in the forest during the long 
afternoon, repulsing every attack of the enemy. General 
Sol Meredith, the brigade commander; Colonel Henry A. Mor- 
row, Lieutenant-Colonel Flanagan, the adjutant, and almost 
every officer who was not killed outright was severely wounded, 
twenty-two being killed and wounded out of twenty-eight 
Captains Speed and O'Donnell and Lieutenants Wallace, Saf- 
ford, Grace, HumphreyAdlle, Dickey and Shattuck were dead 
upon the field. Seven color bearers were shot down under the 
flag, four of them, Abel Pack, Charles Ballou, August Ernest 
and William Kelly, l>ing dead almost side by side, while every 
one of the color guard was dead or w^ounded. When Corporal 
Andrew Wagner was severely wounded and the colors fell, 
Colonel Morrow raised them, Kelly ran up and seized the staff, 
saying: "The Colonel of the Twenty-fourth shall never carry 
the flag while I am alive." He was killed instantly. Still 
another brave soul raised the flag, only to fall. Again Colonel 
Morrow grasped the "starry banner" and, while waving it 
aloft, he, too, fell terribly wounded. No falling back was 
thought of until ordered to retreat, and then the dead was, 



IIl-koiSM I iK THi: AMERICAN VOI.INTKKR. 29 

dragRi'd l)\- force fn>m tlu- liaiuls of a inortallv wounded soldier 
who, with a last ixpiriuj,' effort, tried to raise it from the ground, 
but fell back only to die, Sfjlendid Michigan; your sons have 
done you great honor. 

Tin- Nimteenth Indiana, Colonel S. j. Williams commanding 
went into action in line with the Twent\- fourth Michigan Reg- 
nnciit, crossing \\'illoughl)\- Riui in the lirst nisli and charge 
of the day. and flanking Archer's Confederates, doing its full 
share in the capture of that command. In the afternoon it 
)uld tlie li ft tlank of the Iron Hrigade, meeting and repelling 
charge afttr cliarge of the enemy. i'he fire of the regiment 
was so deadlv that for one hour after the line of the enemy had 
atlvanctd to the attack not a live Confederate succeeded in 
crossing the stream. When the conunand was finally with- 
drawn with the rvinainder of the brigade, 56 per cent, of those 
who had hild llie line weri' dead or wounded. 

Al>)Ut eleven o'clock the head of Rov Stone's brigade ar- 
ri\ed on the field, and was placed bv General Doid)ledav on 
tlie left of tlu- Chaml)ersburg pike, the left of the line resting 
near the right of tlu- Iron Brigade. Shells were fl\-ing as the 
Pennsylvanians mo\ed into position, and it was a hot place to 
form. Stripping fi»r the fray and imslinging knapsacks, the 
men called out, "We have a)me to stav. " When evening 
came fully 50 per cent, of the gallant brigade remained on the 
fatal ridge. Stone's Brigade held the key to the first day's 
fight, and every man seemed to realize the importance of hold- 
ing out to the last. Although some two hours elapsed from 
thi- time the brigade arri\ed until the first serious attack of 
the Confederate infantr\", it was an\thing but an interval of 
peace. I{x{H)sed and in full view of the enemv, the line was 
|xninded bv batteriis from the distant hills, Ixitli north and 
west, and many wire the casualties. Then the whole valley 
of Willoughby Run anil the country beyond was in clear view, 
and e\ ery man s;iw for himself what was coming — the Confed- 
erates, in a contimious double line of deploved battalions, with 
other battalions en vuusi- in reserve. To meet this tremendous 
onslaught stocxl one thin line, and not a man in reserv'e. It 



30 HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. 

required courage of a high order to quietly await the attack, 
but Stone's men were equal to the occasion. 

As Colonel Huidekoper and Major Chamberlain were chat- 
ting, while awaiting the attack, a unique, antique and most 
picturesque figure approached. It was citizen John Burns, 
of Gettysburg. Tall and bony of frame, with deliberate step, 
he came to the front, carrvdng in his right hand a rifle at a 
' 'trail. " He wore a blue swallow-tail coat, with brass buttons, 
dark trousers and a high hat, from which the nap had long : 
since disappeared. Although three-score years and ten, and 
bent with age, he said: "Can I fight with your Regiment?" 
Just then Colonel Wister came up and in his bluff manner 
asked: "Well, old man, what do you want?" "I want a 
chance to fight with your Regiment?" "You do? Well, 
where is your ammunition?" "Right here," said the old 
hero, slapping his trousers pocket, which was bulging out with 
cartridges. "Good," replied Wister, "I wish there were more 
like you, " advising the old man to go into the woods and fight 
where he would be more sheltered. But Bums was not the 
kind that looked for shelter, and he fought during the day not 
only in the open, but in the very front. When evening fell 
he was still there, but badly wounded. At half-past one o'clock 
the whole line of the enemy was seen advancing, and for more 
than two hours the devoted brigade of Roy Stone — One Hun- 
dred and Forty-third, One Hundred and Forty-ninth and One 
Hundred and Fiftieth Pennsylvania Regiments— met and 
checked the exulting foe. 

Never in the history of wars did men stand up under like 
conditions and make such a defence. There they were, one 
thin line, without a man in reserve, meeting charge after 
charge, and seeing beyond, as far as the eye could reach, other 
lines of fresh troops, ready to take the places of those repulsed. 
Every field officer in the brigade, save one, was shot, and many 
of them several times. In the One Hundred and Forty-third 
60 per cent, were killed and wounded, and 91 missing, many 
of these being numbered among the dead ; the One Hundred 
and Forty-ninth lost 50 per cent, killed and wounded, and 111 



HEROISM OF THI-: AMERICAN VOLr.NTKKR. 31 

nussitig; the One Huiulrtcl and iMllictli hjst 50 per cent, killed 
.ind wounded and 77 missing, 25 of whom were afterward 
found to be deiid or wounded. Glorious brigade of the Key- 
stone State! When will your glory fade? Ofliccrs and men 
alike will li\ e in story. Can we ever forget Roy Stone falling 
awa\- out in fnjnt of his line; (jr Langhorne Wister clinging to 
his command with mouth so full of blood that speech was an 
impossibility; of Huidekopcr remaining in command of his 
regiment with shattered arm and a ball through his leg; or 
Color Sergeant Rcnjamin H. Crif)pen, of the One Hundred and 
Forty-second, lingering, as his regiment walked to the rear, 
to shake his fist at the advancing foe, until he was shot dead; 
or Color Sergeant Samuel Phifer, of the One Hundred and 
Fiftieth, advancing with the colors and flaunting them in the 
face of the victorious foe until he fell dead, with all the color 
guard dead or wounded around him? Surelv it was a great 
brigade and a noble fight, but more yet was demanded, for on 
the evening of the second day the One Hundred and Forty- 
ninth and the One Hundred and Fiftieth charged upon the Con- 
federate lines, and recaptured two guns that had been lost that 
afternoon. Likewise, on the third day of the battle the three 
regiments were again under fire, being in line to meet the charge 
of Pickett's men, and to meet the storm of the artilkrv fire that 
for two long hours preceded that attack. 

To the left of the Iron Prigade. the brigade conunanded 
by Colonel Chapman Piddle held the line. The organizatitm 
consisted of one New York and three Peiinsvlvania regiments, 
and its record is very similar to that of the two brigades on 
the right. The Kightieth New York (Tweiitielli Militia), 
called the "Ulster Guard," Colonel Theodore P (Kites com 
mandiiig. had 50 jx^r cent, killed and wounded, 24 missing. 
The One Hundrwl and Twenty first Pennsylvania. Lieutenant 
Colonel Alexander Piddle, had 39 percent, killed and wounded, 
and 01 missing. The One Hundred and Forty-second Penn 
svlvania. Colonel Robert P. Cummings. had 39 ])er cent, killed 
and wounded, and 70 missing. The One Hundred and Flftv 
first Pennsylvania, Lieutenant Colonel George F. McFarland 



32 HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. 

had 56 per cent, killed and \voinided and 100 missing. Not 
only did the brigade make the splendid fight on the first day's 
battle, but on the second and third day all the regiments were 
engaged, and in the last grand scene of the drama the Eightieth 
New York and the One Himdred and Fifty-first Pennsylvania, 
led by Colonel Gates, rushed in, side by side with Stannard's 
Vermonters, to strike the flank of Pickett's line. The ' »ne 
Hundred and Forty-second Pennsylvania lost some of its best 
officers and men. Colonel Cummings, Captain Flagg and Lieu- 
tenants Tucker and Hurst were killed instantly, and Captains 
Grim, Evans, Dushane and Hasson, and Lieutenants Powell, 
Walter, Swank, Heffley, Huston, Hoffman and Wilson were 
wounded. 

Lieutenant Colonel George F. McFarland, who commanded 
the One Hundred and Fifty-first Pennsylvania on the first day's 
fight, was the principal of the McAlister Academy, in Juniata 
county, of our State. He was an exceedingly calm, brave 
man, and while awaiting the infantry attack quietly sat on 
the ground taking notes, while the shells were flying in all 
directions. He was terribly wounded and lost a leg. The 
Regiment was unique in many particulars: McFarland, a 
school principal, in command, with one hundred school teach- 
ers marching and fighting in the ranks. The whole of Com- 
pany D was composed of scholars and schoolboys from McFar- 
land's Academy. The Regiment fought the Twenty-sixth 
North Carolina. 

TWENTY-SIXTH NORTH CAROLINA. 

All the heroism of the American Volunteer was not by any 
means concentrated in the Northern Army, the Southern 
troops were Americans also and fought quiet as bravely and 
as well as those of the North ; the terrible losses of the heroic 
men of the North would never have been made had they not bad 
equally heroic men to meet. The heroism of both is the com- 
mon heritage and honor of all Americans. The Twenty-sixth 
North Carolina Infantry that inflicted the 56 per cent, killed 
and wounded on the One Hundred Fiftv-first Pennsvlvania 



itKk'iisM oK THi-; ami;kic.\n vounthfck. 33 

\'i)liiiitifrs was not hiliind lliiir oppoiuuts in bnivtrv. That 
RfVjiiiu-iit wtiit into action with 820 niuii and had 86 killed, 
502 woundfd. Total 588 and luorv than one hundred missing, 
manv of whom were undoubtedly among the killed and wounded 
but without taking account of the missing we have a record 
of 71 7-10 per cent, loss; 34 of the 39 officers of the Regiment 
was killed or wounded. Colonel Harry K. Burgoyne, two 
captains and three Lieutenants being killed. Some of the 
companies were more unfortunate than others, one company 
lost every man in the two day's battle. Private James Moore 
being tlie 85th man shot in the Company. Company A went 
into the fight with '>2 men into action and lost 88; Company 
K lost 80 out of 82. Iv\i ry man of the Color Guard was killed 
or wounded then Caj)tain McClearv took the flag and fell dead. 
Colonel Burgovne raised the flag and fell mortally wounded, 
tluii I'rivatt' Harry Cutte seized the flag staff and dead hands 
raised it once more and fell severely wounded. When Lieuten- 
ant Colonel Lane was wounded he was carried into a brick 
house, used as a Held hospital and while lying there among 
the dead and dving a wounded ofllccr from Georgia lying beside 
him and delirious, all the night of Julv 1st. but on the morning 
of till- Jiid he became (iiiiei and for a time silent and Colonel 
I^ine heanl him say in a perfectly rational tone of voice. 
"There now, \'icksburg has fallen, Gicneral Lee is retreating 
and the south is whipped. " .\ few momt-nls afterwards he 
died. \'icksburg surrendered I'orly-eight hours afterwards 
and Lee retreated the next evening. The Twenty-sixth North 
Carolina was organized bv Colonel Zebuloun B. \'ance after 
being in the field for one year, he was elected Governor of his 
Stale and was known as the War Governor, after the close of 
the war he was elected three successive times to the United 
States Si-nate. Colonel Burgoyne was one of the most youth- 
ful oflicer^ of the war. being but 19 years and 10 months old 
wlieii he was a>mmissioned Lieutenant Colonel, and when 
killed at Gettysburg was only 22. He had received a military 
etlucation at the \'irginia Military Institute where he was a 
student when the war a^mmenced. 



34 HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. 

The One Hundred and Fifty-first had 14 officers killed and 
Avounded, and was the last regiment to leave the line when 
retreat was ordered. The Confederate General, Heth, said 
that "the dead of the One Hundred and Fifty-first marked 
the line of battle with the accuracy of a 'dress parade.'" On 
that day Pennsylvania's teachers and schoolboys left a rich 
legacy to others who come after them. Much history has 
been written, and any amount of criticism indulged in, in re- 
lation to the fight of the First Corps on the first day of the bat- 
tle, but the more we learn of it the more we must acknowledge 
that it was a great contest, a wonderful defence against over- 
whelming odds. 

All the severe fighting of the first day was not confined to 
the line of the First Corps. The Eleventh Corps, coming upon 
the field later in the day, also fought against great odds, and 
made a splendid fight. One regiment, at least, kept up with 
the best record of any one of the First Corps. The Seventy- 
fifth Pennsvlvania fought to the north of the town, near the 
Carlisle road, losing 56 per cent, killed and wounded. This 
regiment was originally recruited by General Henry Bohlen, 
who was killed at Freeman's Ford, August 22, 1862. It was 
commanded at Gettysburg by Colonel Francis Mahler, who 
was killed there. Colonel Francis Mahler was badly wounded 
early in action, but refused to leave, and continued in com- 
mand until he was killed. The regiment was composed en- 
tirely of Germans, who here fought better for the land of their 
adoption than any son of Germany ever fought in defence of 
his native land. 

Tulv 2, 1863. — The second day at Gettysburg was quite as 
prolific in the piling up of great losses as the first day — noble 
deeds and splendid fighting on every part of the field. No 
sooner had Longstreet swept down on the Third Corps than 
regiment after regiment began rolling up the wonderful record 
of more than 50 per cent, killed and wounded. When the 
strong line of the Confederates struck the Emmitsburg road 
and peach orchard, they found the Twenty-sixth Pennsylvania 
in line. This regiment held the extreme right of the Third 



HHKdlS.M ol" Tin; AMERICAN V( JiAXTIiEK. 35 

Corps, and was commuiKled on that day by Captain George 
W Tomlinson. The command had been in every battle from 
the beginning, and was reduced to the numbers of a small bat- 
talion. Three hundred and eighty-two ofiicers and men stood 
in line when the fight began, and within an hour 224 of them 
had been killed or wounded - 56 per cent. Of 18 officers, 4 
Wire killed and 7 wounded, 5 of them being crippled for life. 
All the color guard were down, an 1 three color sergeants fell 
dead, one after the other. The One Hundred and Forty-first 
Pennsylvania Infantry was also in line there to meet the rush 
of the Confederate attack, another very small command, and 
at a most critical moment was called upon to meet an over- 
whelming force. Bravely the men stood to the work, pouring 
in a steady fire, and holding the enemy back until the batteries 
of their division could be rescued and the guns hauled ofl bv 
hand, all the horses being killed. The commander, Major 
Israil Spaulding, was killed. The only Captain left at the 
close of the fight was Cajitain Joseph II. Horton, a most gal- 
lant young officer, who greatly distinguished himself and 
brought the remnant of tlie regiment from the field. Their 
record —63 per cent, killed and wounded — placed anothe 
I\ iHisylvania regiment on the roll of the brave. 

The Kleventh New Jersey, Colonel Robert M. McAlister, a 
truly grand hero, commanding, fought along the Kmmitsburg 
road to the right of the peach orchard. This regiment fought 
Wilcox on its right and liarksdale on its left. Fifty-one per 
cent. kilUd and wounded is the record of these Jerse\Tnen. 
Colonel McAlister soon fell, shot through the leg, with his foot 
smashed by a shell. Major Philip J. Kearney then took com 
m.md and fill dead. Captain Luther Martin then took com- 
mand and fell dead. Captain Doramus B. Logan then took 
command and fell dead. Captain Andrew H. Ackerman took 
command, and was instatitly killi-d. Captain Lloyd took 
command, and fell terribly wounded. Lieutenants Provost, 
Fassctt. Lavion. \'olk. Crood and Axtell were lying on the 
ground, wounded and bleeding, but still the ICleventh New 
Icrscv held on until the order to retreat was received, when 



■\ 



36 HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. 

the Adjutant, John Schoonover, suffering with two wounds' 
led it from the field. On the same line with the Eleventh New 
Jersey the Twentieth Indiana made a heroic fight. In the First 
Division of the Third Corps — Bimey's division — the Indiana 
boys were commanded that day by Colonel J. K. Wheeler, who 
fell dead at their head. The number of killed and wounded — 
54 per cent. — tells the story of their valor. 

As the battle rolled back from the peach orchard, the fighting 
became terrific on the left, the wheat field having been already 
covered with the dead and dying. At this juncture the divis- 
ion of the regulars went in to emulate the best fighting of the 
volunteers. While they could not excel the latter, they could 
at least equal them, and they did, the Seventeenth United 
States, commanded by Colonel Durell Green, losing 65 per cent, 
in killed and wounded. As yet no monuments mark the line 
of the regular troops, but let us hope that Congress may see to 
it, and that at an early day those splendid regiments may not 
be forgotten or unhonored. And then that magnificent regi- 
ment, the Fifth New Hampshire, was in the wheat field, also. 
It had gone to the left that afternoon, with Caldwell's division 
of the Second Corps. In the short, sharp encounter, Colonel 
Cross was killed, and the regiment lost, in killed and wounded, 
exactly 50 per cent. This regiment, during the war, had 18 
officers and 277 men killed in battle. Colonel Edward E. Cross 
was a model officer, and was in command of the brigade when 
killed. When passing, as his command formed for the fight, 
General Hancock said to him, ' 'Cross, this is the last day you 
will fight as a Colonel ; you will have your commission as Briga- 
dier-General in a few days." Cross replied, as he rode away, 
"Too late, too late; I will die to-day." He lived for a few 
hours, after being shot through the body, and although sufifer- 
ing great pain, talked cheerfully to the end. Said he, "I did 
hope to live to see peace restored to our distressed country. I 
think the boys will miss me; say good-bye to them all." 
"Peace to his ashes; heaven rest his soul," was the prayer that 
went up in every part of the Second Corps as, in the calm still- 
ness of the midnight hour, he slept to wake no more. 



hi:ri>ism <>r rm; .\mi:rica\ volunticick. 37 

The forcing back of Humphrey's division of the Third Corps 
exposed to an overwhelming attack the Fifteenth Massachu- 
setts and the Ivighty-second N'ew York, which, with a section 
of Brown's Rhode Island Battery, had been thrown forward 
to the Codori House. The Eighty-second N'ew York was 
cc'mraanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Huston, and Colonel George 
H. Ward commanded the detachment. The two little regi- 
ments made a most gallant stand, and held on the advanced 
position until Colonel Ward had been killed. His regiment, 
the Fifteenth Massachusetts, left dead on the field Captains 
Murkland and Jorgeson and Lieutenant Buss. Nearly every 
officer was wounded, and the record of the afternoon was 50 
per cent, killed and wovmded. The Eighty-second New York 
sufTered quite as seriously, losing exactly 50 per cent, killed 
and wounded. Lieutenant-Colonel James Huston, Captain 
Jonah C. Hoyt and Lieutenants John Cranston and John G. 
McDonald being killed and nine oflicers wounded. The Eighty- 
second captured, during the afternoon of the second, the colors 
of the Forty-eighth Georgia, and on the third day captured 
the colors of the First and vSeventh Virginia Regiments. Dur 
ing a crisis that afternoon, Hancock led into action the brigade 
insisting of the One Hundred and Eleventh New York, Colo- 
nel Clinton McDougal; the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth 
New York, Ct)lonel George L. Willard ; and the One Hundred 
and Twenty-sixth New York. Colonel Eliakin Shirrell. The 
force charge<l through tlie bushy swale at IMum Run and struck 
the Thirteenth, Se\cntecnth and Eighteenth Mississippi Reg- 
iments. Will.ird, a>mmanding the brigade, was killed. Shir- 
rill. of the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth, was killed, and 
Mcnougal, of the One Hundred and Eleventh, was wounded. 
The latter regiment lost 71 per cent, in killed and wounded. 
The One Hundred and Twentv-sixth lost not only their Colonel 
but also Captains Skinner. Herenden and Wheeler, and Lieu- 
tenants Hunton, Sherman and Holmes, and nine other officers 
were wounded. The record at Gettysburg was 55 per cent 
killed and wounded. Tliis regiment captured three stands 
of colors in the b.ittlo Including those killed in this fight, the 



38 HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. 

regiment had sixteen officers shot dead in action during the 
war. Glory to the Empire State ! 

And now let us recall the grandest of all. It was getting 
towards evening, and the battle had raged along the Emmits- 
burg road and out by the peach orchard. In vain had our 
brave troops fought and died. The Third Corps had been 
rolled back, crushed and almost annihilated; the wheat field 
had been swept by line after line of battle; Little Round Top 
had been saved, and Hood's Texans were being gradually 
driven down the crest; the gallant Sickles had been carried to 
the rear from where he had fallen, crushed and bleeding. Still 
the battle raged along the whole line; a crucial moment had 
arrived. A great gap existed on the left of the Second Corps, 
and the victorious and exulting foe was moving forward to 
push through the threatened point, but were still far off. Han- 
cock, seeing a large force emerging from the timber, and think- 
ing it was some of our own forces, galloped to meet them, only 
to discover a division of the enemy. He was met by a volley 
in which was wounded the only aide he had with him, Captain 
W. D. W. Miller, a very noble young officer. 

The danger to the Union line was imminent ; but one small 
regiment — the First Minnesota — was anywhere near. Han- 
cock quickly rode toward it, and called out, "What regiment 
is this?" "The First Minnesota," came the answer. Then 
pointing to the Confederate columns about to seize the unoccu- 
pied heights of Cemetery Ridge (and should they succeed dis- 
aster to the Union Army would surely result, though reinforce- 
ments were hurrying to advance), the General said: "Colonel 
Colville, charge that line. " At this moment the scene was one 
of appalling grandeur; Little Round Top wreathed in smoke 
the crash of artillery was re-echoing from all the woods, lines 
of battle were charging back and forth over the valley of death, 
and the whole crest of Cemetery Ridge was a blaze of fire. The 
men of the First Minnesota instantly knew what Hancock's 
order meant — death or wounds for every man in the ranks, 
sacrifice of the entire command in order to gain a few minutes' 
time, and thus save the position and probably the battlefield. 



MiiRtiis.M i»F Tin: .\mi:kic.\.v volunteer. 39 

Kvrrv man saw and acct'])tf(l the sacrifice. Responding to 
CoK illes rapid i>rders, the command, in perfect line, with arms 
at a "rij;[ht shoulder sliift," went sweeping down the slope 
directly uiH)n the enemv's center. Xo hesitation, no stopping 
to fin-, silently at a "doid)le quick," then at a "run," then at 
the utmost speed, they went -for the oidy hope of being able 
to reach the enemy through the stonn of fire that met them 
was by sj)eed- -"Charge, " screamed Colville, as the regiment 
nearctl the advancing lines of the enemy. Then in a rush with 
leveled bayonets, the First Minnesota, with momentmn and 
cUsi)eration, went crashing through the first line. Then a 
volley and tlie center of the enemy broke and was for a few 
miiuites thrown into confusion. The very ferocity of the 
onset seemed for a time to paralyze them. The object was 
accomplished ; time, short as it was, was gained, and before the 
long lines of the Confederates could be straightened out the 
reserves were on the ground and the position was saved. 

But wliat a sacrifice! Colville and every other officer, ex- 
cept two, were weltering in their blood, killed or wounded. 
Then the few survivors fell back, leaving dead and wounded 
82 per cent, of the gallant men that charged ten minutes before. 
The aimals of war contain no such record of true heroism, valor 
and self sacrifice. Neither was it in vain, for the execution of 
the movement was ctjmplete and successful and the object 
g. lined, and it was necessarv. "There is no more gallant deed 
m history," said Hancock, but he added: "I saw the necessity 
of gaining five mimites, and I would have ordered them in if 
1 had been sure that every man woidd have been killed. " The 
Mtxjnd (lav, however, was not the last of the battle for the First 
Minnesota, (^n the afternoon of the third day the remnant 
of that noble command was again in the very front, and when 
Pickett's men reached Cemetery Ridge the First was there to 
receive tin in. Corix)ral Dehii, the last of the color guard, was 
sliot and the llagstaff cut in two. Corjwral O'Brien ran up and 
raised the cv>lors on the piece of stafT that was left, dashing 
forward toward the enemy. He fell, with two wounds, and 
Corporal W \' Ir\in, of Company D, grasped it. The whole 



40 HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOI^UNTEER. 

command rushed in, following the flag. It was hand-to-hand 
fight for a few minutes ; no time to load and fire, bayonets and 
clubbed muskets and great stones snatched from the wall were 
used ; but the struggle, close, desperate and deadly as it was, 
was soon over, and the Confederates threw down their arms 
and surrendered, Marshall Sherman, of Company C, capturing 
the colors of the Twenty-eighth Virginia. Great Minnesota — 
"Etoile du Nord!" The sacrifice of your sons was your glory. 
Never forget them. Keep their memory green. Tell the 
children of the glorious deeds, and teach them to rejoice in 
the heroism of their fathers. 

But Gettysburg was not to end without one more regiment 
making the great record of 50 per cent, killed and wounded. 
The Sixty-ninth (Irish) Pennsylvania stood, when the battle 
raged fiercest, out in advance of the line where the great attack 
of Pickett's 18,000 concentrated in largest numbers, surrounded, 
overwhelmed and literally swallowed up in the surging masses 
of the Confederates. The Irishmen stood immovable, uncon- 
querable, fearless and splendid in their valor, the green flag 
waving side by side with the colors of their adopted country, 
both held aloft by the stone wall until the victory was assured 
and the hosts of the enemy crushed. But Colonel Denis O'Kane 
and Lieutenant-Colonel Martin Tschudy lay dead. Major 
Duff'y and almost every other officer was down wounded, while 
another regiment had taken its place in the list of those that 
had, in single engagements, lost 50 percent, killed and wounded. 

Truly, Gett^^sburg was a field resplendent with great and 
heroic deeds. The "Congress Medal of Honor "was originated 
for the purpose of rewarding brave actions out of the ordinary 
line of duty. An average of less than one to each Union regi- 
ment has been given by the Government. I think the entire 
number granted for all the war might have been distributed 
for this battle alone and not one of them misplaced. And yet, 
how few of our people know of the heroism of our army in the 
Civil War. In justice to the men who composed those armies, 
in justice to their children, should not most recognition be 
given to the glowing history? What a page of our country's 



im:r<iism of thi: .\mi:kican vi>i,r.\Ti;i:K. 41 

history it is. bvit low luivi- read it. Our school books are silent 
on the subject, and our chikireii never hear it mentioned. 
What a storv for the children of Minnesota would be "The 
First at Gettysburj;^. " or for those of Michigan, the thrilling 
tale of the Twenty-fourth. How the coming generations in our 
own State would delight to read of Roy Stone's Brigade, or 
the One Hundred and iMfty-first Pennsylvania, with its one 
hundred school teachers and their young scholars, and the 
fight thev made. But thev never hear of these things. I 
question whether there are a dozen school children in Minne- 
>;ota who ever heard of their fathers at Gettysburg. It is 
doubtful if there is a line in any text lx)ok of the public schools 
of any State keeping alive thes-^ memories. Our children come 
home and tell us wonderful tales of heroism in the history of 
old Greece and Rome, and of campaigns in Europe. They 
speak of Therniop\lae and Marathon, and then have "The 
Charge of the Light Brigade "" at Balaklava on the end of their 
tongues, but of their own fathers, who made a record for hero- 
ism never equalled and one that will never be excelled, they 
are strangely ignorant. Let us hope that in the readers of 
the future our children may learn the story of "American 
heroism" at least as well as that of other ages and of other 
nations. 

Tlic wonderful lu-roisra displayed by the annies of the Ci\-il 
War was not the oidy remarkable fact connected with the great 
struggle. The youth of the soldiers was equally so. A Phila- 
dtlphia regiment, marching down Broad street on the way to 
the station and to tlu' front was ridiculed by a Southern sym- 
pathizer wlio. viewing the passing columns from the sidewalk, 
remarked that the Southern men would soon make short work 
of that crowd. 'Wliv ■. said he, "they are only schoolbo>'S. " 
True, the regiment was comjKJsefl in a great measure of school 
lv)ys. but, during the following four years, it made a record 
lor splendid lighting never equaled by the finest regiment that 
ovt r mardied in anv of the annies of Europe. 

We might truthfully say that our anny was composed of 
sch(K)lbovs Hundreds of thousands of them threw down 



42 HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. 

their books and filled the ranks, and tens of thousands were 
laid in soldiers' graves and never returned to school again, 
while other thousands served during the entire war, returning 
home veterans of many battles, to once more take up their 
books and, going back to school, finish their education. 

An eminent writer of EngHsh history states as a remarkable 
fact that one of the divisions of the army of Charles I was 
commanded by a general only 30 years of age. At the close of 
our war in 1865 it was rare to find a brigade or division com- 
mander who had attained that age. In the Second Corps, 
Miles commanded the First Division, while John R. Brookes, 
James A. Beaver, George N. Macy and the writer commanded 
the brigades comprising that command, and each had hardly 
reached the mature age of 25 years. I personally recall some 
of the schoolboys, and, when I remember young faces beaming 
with intelligence, enthusiasm and heroic loyalty, I feel like 
recording their virtues, and it may be that the boys of our own 
time, if ever called upon, will profit by their example and dis- 
play the like noble qualities. 

The youngest brigade ccmmander that I remember is now 
an eminent citizen of our State and vice president of the Lake 
Erie and Pittsburg Railroad, Colonel James M. Shoonmaker. 
He was born June 30, 1842, and was assigned to the command 
of the Second Brigade Cavalry Division, Army of West Virginia, 
January 1, 1864, when 21 years and six months old. The brig- 
ade consisted of the First Virginia Cavalry, Fourteenth Penn- 
sylvania Cavalry, Twenty-second Pennsylvania Cavalry and 
Gibson's Battery. 

YOUNGEST BRIGADE COMMANDER. 

Although only 21 years and 6 months old at the time he 
issued this order, yet he was a veteran and a seasoned soldier; 
at the front from the very first hour of trouble, a private sol- 
dier in the First Maryland Cavalry, then promoted through 
every non-commissioned grade, to Second Lieutenant July 16, 
1862, and finally mustered in as Colonel of the Fourteenth 
Pennsylvania Cavalry November 24, 1862, aged 20 years and 



HKRoisM or Tui: AMiikic.w vt>urNTi;i:K. 43 

4 months. I ha\f bctn tdld that when he reported to Harris- 
hurg to take a)mmaiid of tlie Fourteenth Cavalry, Governor 
Curtin gazed at the young fellow with curiosity and astonisli- 
inent and, for a moment, seemed to doubt the wisdom of grant- 
ing so im}X)rtant a commission to one so young. Even then 
he did not look his age. Hut tin- commission was issued and 
the CK;)\enior soon learned that lie had made no mistake, the 
regiment being one of the best and most ably commanded of 
.mv that left our State. 

THIRT\' n\\i DAVSrXDlvR I'IRE. 

After commanding for ^ months the brigade in the army of 
West X'irginia, he was, on August 3, 1864, assigned to the com- 
mand of the I'irst Brigade in AxerilTs ca\alrv di\ision, Amiv 
of tlu- Shenandoah, and led that brigade in all the battles and 
engag* meiits between Sheridan and Harlv in the whirlwind 
ainipaign that marked montlis of the last year of the war. 
Ihiring the many fights vi this j)eriod his brigade was almost 
tx)ntimially under fire and, in one of those months, from the 
day of the battle of ()j)efiuan Creek. September 1^), until Cedar 
Creek, ( )ctober 1'', the brigatle was under fire e\erv one of tlie 
.^1 days. Not only was the lx)v brigade commander continu- 
ally f)raised by his sujuriors because of his efliciencv as an oflicer, 
but his perstmal bravery and heroism were recognized by the 
conferring upon him of the highest honor granted to a soldier 
of the I'nion. for he was given a Congress Medal of Honor for 
most di.stinguijhed services at Winchester, September 19, 
IS<)4. when at a critical moment of the battle. Colonel Schoon- 
niak«r gallantly led a cavalry charge against the left of the 
(umus line of battle, which was protected bv earthworks, 
drove tin eiumy out of the works and captured manv ])rison- 
ers. " 

Hut uhv try to enlarge further on his merits i* The fact of 
his ct.mmanding a brigade in the vallev campaign under vSheri- 
dan is the strongest proof that he not only filled the position 
well. I)ut brilliantly. 



44 HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOI.UNTEER. 



HEROES WERE CHILDREN. 

While the youth of the commanders was surprising, that of 
the heroes who won the Congress Medal of Honor was more so. 
So young in many cases that they might in truth be called 
children, they exhibited not only valor but intelligence of a 
high order. A gentleman calls to see me now and then and I 
recall him as a mere child of long ago. 

Robinson B. Murphy was bom May 11, 1849. He enlisted 
as musician at the beginning of the war and the official state- 
ment of the action for which he gained his Congress Medal 
reads: "At Atlanta, Ga., July 28, 1864, being orderly to the 
brigade commander, he voluntarily led two regiments as rein- 
forcements into line of battle, where he had his horse shot from 
under him." He enlisted in the War of the Rebellion August 
6, 1862, at the age of 13 years 2 months and 24 days in the 
One Hundred Twenty-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, 
and was made orderly to the Colonel of the regiment. In Jan- 
uary, 1864, he was made orderly to General J. A. J. Lightburn, 
and participated in several hard-fought battles. In the army 
he was known as "Bob." When he performed the wonderful 
feat that gained him the medal he was only 15 years old. The 
circumstances under which young Murphy led two regiments 
into battle were as follows: 

BOY LED TWO REGIMENTS. 

The division in which General Lightburn commanded was 
that day on the extreme right of the army, which was being 
flanked by the enemy. Young Murphy was sent to the right 
by his General to find out the situation, and finding that the 
enemy had flanked the right wing and was driving them, he 
rode on his pony down the line and met General Logan, who 
commanded the Army of Tennessee that day, and begged him 
with tears in his eyes for reinforcements, telling him they were 
cutting our right all to pieces. The General replied : "I have 
ordered reinforcements from the left and here they come now, 
and if you know where they are needed, Bob, show them in." 



IlKROISM oF Tin: .\MI:rICAN VOI.rNTKKR. 45 

And that is how he- came to lead the two regiments that day. 
(ieneral Lighthurii wrote regarding Bob that he was "not only 
brave and faithful, but displayed remarkable judgment for 
one (jf his age, as I soon found out I could depend on him under 
any circumstances that might rise." 



K\LISTI<:i) .\T THIRTHI-:\. 

In 1S62, at a war meeting held in llie court house at Oswego, 
Wright .Mur[ihv, being called uj)on for a speech, wound up by 
saving: "I ha\e asked a great many men to enlist, and, now 
I propose to enlist mvself. " At this Hob jumi)ed up and going 
forward, wanted to enlist also, but his father would not allow 
him to do so on account of being the only son and also of his 
youth. Aftir arguuig the matter for two weeks, his father 
Irving in every way possible to dissuade him. Bob simply say- 
ing, "Papa, if von do not consent to let me go with vou I will 
run awav. as I am deteniiined to go to the war." His father, 
not wishing to back out himself, fuially gave his consent and 
Bob became a soldier with his father, whose age at enlistment 
was 51 years and that of Bob 13, Bob took his father home to 
die in Se[itiniber. 1864, but he returned after 60 days and was 
made orderlv on the staff of (niieral Webster, who was chief of 
staff to (u-neral Slurman. and was mustered out as such at the 
close of the war, in June, 1865, at Washington, D. C, after 
participating in the grand review of the armies at Washington. 



•MORK CARTKI I )0P:S— CALIBRE 54." 

And here is another very little chap who gained his medal. 
' )rion r. Howe, born December 2'^, 1848. He enlisteci earh 
in the war and was woundi-d at \'icksburg and three times at 
I >allas. Oa. His record is a brilliant one, and (icneral Shemian 
tells the story in a letter of August 8. 1863: 



46 HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. 

Headquarters 15th Army Corps, Camp on Black River, August 
8, 1863. 

Hon. E. Stanton, Secretary of War. 

Sir: I take the liberty of asking, through you, that some- 
thing be done for a lad named Orion P. Howe, of Waukegan, 
111., who belongs to the Fifty-fifth Illinois, but at present at 
home wounded. I think he is too young for West Point, but 
would be the very thing for a midshipman. When the assault 
of Vicksburg was at its height, on the 19th of May, and I was 
in front near the road, which formed my line of attack, this 
young lad came up to me, wounded and bleeding with a good, 
healthy boy's cry, 'General Sherman, send some cartridges to 
Colonel Malmburg; the men are nearly all out,' 'What's the 
matter, my boy?' 'They shot me in the leg, sir, but I can go to 
the hospital. Send the cartridges right away.' Even where 
he stood the shot fell thick, and I told him to go to the rear 
at once, I would attend to the cartridges; and off he limped. 
Just before he disappeared on the hill, he turned, and called 
as loud as he could, 'Calibre 54. " I have not seen the lad since, 
and his Colonel (Malmburg) on inquiry gives me the address 
above, and says he is a bright, intelligent boy, with a fair pre- 
liminary education. What arrested my attention then was — 
and what renewed my memory of the fact now is — that one* 
so young, carrying a musket-ball through his leg, should have 
found his way to me on that fatal spot, and delivered his mes- 
sage, not forgetting the very important part of the calibre of 
his musket .54, which you know is an unusual one. I'll war- 
rant that the boy has in him the elements of a man, and I com- 
mend him to the Government as one worth the fostering care 
of one of the national institutions. I am, with respect. 

Your obedient servant, 

W. T. SHERMAN. 

Major General Commanding. 

When the poet, George H. Boker, learned of the episode of 
young Howe, he put the story in verse. 



hi:k<hs.m (if Tin: A.Miikic.w \'i ii,inti;i:r. 47 

CHILI) Sl-:i<VFJ) A GL'X. 

John Cook, too, paineil u Medal of Honor when a mere child. 
\lv was born in Ohitj. August 10, 1847, and enlisted in Battery 
H, I'durtli I'nited States Artillery, at the breaking out of the 
war. He was serving as bugler at Antietam, and certainly 
ilid enough to merit his medal. The boy distinguished him- 
self at Antietam and in every fight in which the command was 
engaged. At Antietam the battery was knocked to pieces 
losing about 50 per cent, of the men, killed or woimded. Cap- 
tain Campt)ell fell, severely wounded, and young Cook assisted 
liim to the rear, (juickly returning to the firing line, where, 
seeing nearly all the men down and not enough left to man 
the guns, the little fellow unstrapped a pouch of ammunition 
from the bodv of a dead gunner who was Iving near one of the 
caissons, ran forward with it and acted as gimner until the end 
of the fight. The enemv at one time reached within 15 feet of 
the batterv, anrl Cicneral John Criljbon, seeing the condition of 
tilings, threw himself from his horse and served as a gunner 
side bv side with voung Cook. It was certainly a strange 
combination, the full brigadier general and a boy of 14 working 
a gun together. Voung Cook afterward gained great praise 
for his conduct at CU'ttysburg. where he acted as a mounted 
orderly. 

1. C. lulius Luighein was a verv smiU boy, itulced, when 
at the battle of CanuUii. North Carolina, April 15, 1862, he 
won his Congress Medal. The olTicial record states that when 
a drummer Ixiy, he voluntarilv and under a heavy fire went to 
the aicl of a woiuuUd otlicer, ])rocured medical aid for him and 
aided in carrying him to a place »)f safety." After the battle 
he was granted a short leave of absence to visit his parents, and 
what a thrill of hap])iness the l>ov must have felt when he 
handed liis mother a commeiidatorv letter from his company 
ctimmander 

Comrade I.angbein was born in Gennany, but came to the 
United States when two years of age. Two weeks after Sum- 
ter was fired upon he enlisted in the Ninth New York Infantry 



48 HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. 

as drummer. So childish in appearance was he that his com 
rades named him "Jennie," and as such he was known during 
the term of his service. 

The letter above quoted is in the possession of his aged 
mother, which she treasures to this day. It is but fair to add , 
and I take great pleasure in doing so, that since the war "Jen- 
nie ' ' has won as honorable a name in civil life as he did during 
the war. Who has not heard of ex-Assemblyman and ex- 
Judge Langbein? His friends are legion, and they are proud 
of his record. In 1877, and again in 1879, the people of his 
district sent him to the legislative hall at Albany, where he was 
noted for his frankness, independence and fearlessness. In the 
fall of the latter year he was elected Justice of the Seventh 
Judicial District Court, over which he presided with a fairness 
and ability worthy of a higher station. With his brother, ex- 
Senator George H. Langbein, he is the author of " Langbein 's 
District Court Practice," a work well and favorably known 
among the bench and bar of the city of New York. 

And here is another boy who wears the Congress Medal of 
Honor, nobly won: George D. Sidman, a schoolboy from 
Michigan a mere child in years when he made his great record 
and won the medal for "distinguished bravery in battle at 
Gaines Mills, June 27, 1862." This battle, the second of the 
"Seven Days Battles," before Richmond, was one of the most 
disastrous battles of the Civil War, wherein Fitz John Porter's 
Fifth Army Corps was pitted against the three army corps of 
Generals Longstreet, Hill and "Stonewall Jackson. 

Brigadier General Daniel Butterfield's brigade, composed of 
the Twelfth, Seventeenth and Forty-fourth New York, Eighty- 
third Pennsylvania and Sixteenth Michigan Volunteer Infantry 
Regiments, that day occupied the left of the battle in the form 
of a curve, with the vSixteenth and Eighty-third on the extreme 
left and resting on the border of Chickahominy Swamp. Here 
the brigade was called upon to resist several desperate charges 
of the enemy during the day, which, in every instance, resulted 
in defeat of the attacking forces. 

It was in this "forlorn hope" rally that Companion Sidman, 



miKtilSM or Till' ANIICRICAN VOLUNTEER. 49 

tluii .1 vt)ulh of 17. scrxiiii,' in tla- ranks of Company C, Six- 
ttcnth Michigan, as a private, but borne on the rolls of his 
c<>m{)anv as a dnimmt-r bov, distinguished liimself by waving 
his giui and calling u|K)n his comrades to rallv on the colors as 
he had done, thus setting an exami)le that was sj^eedilv fol- 
lowed by a number of others, and winning the approbation of 
Major Welch, of his regiment who was a witness of the heroic 
act. He was in the front rank of the charge upon the 
enemy, and in the almost hand-to-hand conflict that followed 
fell severely wounded through the left hij) by a minnie ball. 

On the morning of l)ecember l.\ 1S62, while the Fifth Corps 
was drawn up in line of battle on Stafford Heights waiting for 
orders to cross tlu' Rapi)ahannock Ri\er and enter Fredericks- 
burg, Colonel Stockton, comniantling the Third Brigade, First 
Pivision, called upon the Sixteenth Michigan for a volunteer 
to carry the new brigade flag that had just reached the com- 
mand Sidman, but now partially recovered from his wound, 
sprang from the ranks and begged for this dutv. His patriot- 
ism and fidelity to duty, well known to Major Welch, now 
conmianding the regiment, won for him the coveted prize, 
much to the chagrin of several other comrades who valiantly 
offered their services. Leading his brigade on its famous 
charge up Marye's Heights, in that terrible slaughter under 
Buniside. he was again wounded, but not so severely as to 
prevent him from planting his colors within 150 yards of the 
enimv's line, wliere they remained for 30 hours. Three days 
later he j^roudly lK)re his llag back across the Rappahannock, 
marked by a broken shaft and several holes, caused by the 
enemy's missiles during the charge. 

It was in this battle. Sundav, December 14, 1S62. while the 
brigade lav all dav hugging tlie ground behind the slight eleva- 
tion a few yanls in front of the enemy, momentarily expecting 
an attack, that Com^ianion Sidman, with a comrade of his ouTi 
company, displayed hum.mitv as well as remarkable valor by 
running the gauntlet thnnigh a railroad cut for canteens of 
water for sick and wounded comrades who could not be re- 
moved from the lines; this at a time, ttxi. when the enemv's 



50 HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. 

sharpshooters were so stationed as to command the ground 
a considerable distance in the rear of the brigade lines. It was 
this distinguished service of humanity at Fredericksburg, in 
the face of a vigilant enemy and with almost certain death 
staring him in the face, that prompted his officers in recom- 
mending him for the Medal of Honor. The War Department, 
however, with a full record knowledge of his service from Gaines 
Mills to Fredericksburg, and for reasons best known to itself, 
decided that the medal was earned at the first-named battle, 
with continuing merit to the end of his military service. 

f """ SCOUTS AND SPIES. 

Perhaps the most dangerous duty a soldier can be engaged 
in is that of scout. In a book published after the war, and 
called "Hampton and His Cavalry," the following definition 
of a scout is given : ' 'The scouts of the army did not constitute 
a distinct organization, but suitable men volunteering for this 
duty were detailed from the different comimands. The posi- 
tion required not only coolness, courage, zeal and intelligence, 
but special faculties born in some few men." 

The line of demarcation between a scout and a spy was at 
times very ill-defined, for, as the scouts were usually dressed 
in the enemy's uniforms which they had captured, they were 
by strict military laws subject to the penalty of spies if taken 
within the enemy's lines, and they were not without pleasant 
experiences of that sort. 

Undoubtedly one of the most distinguished of this class was 
Archibald Hamilton Rowand, Jr., who received the medal 
because of the indorsement of General Sheridan, who knew 
and appreciated his great services to the cause. 

SHERIDAN SCOUT. 

Companion Rowand was bom March 6, 1845, in Philadelphia, 
Pa.; and enlisted July 17, 1862, in Company K, First West 
Virginia Cavalry, and served until August 17, 1865. His 
services were not onlv remarkable, but most valuable to the 



hi:ki>ism of thi- ami-ricax \'()Lunti:i;r. 51 

cause. He was one of the most during and most trusted of 
Sheridan's scouts. That general refers to him in his memoirs 
as having succeeded in passing through the Confederate army 
in .March, 1S65, when lie carried dispatches from Sheridan at 
Columbia. \'a.. west of Richmond, to Grant at City Point on 
the James River. 

( )nce, while sctouting for Avcrill he was captured, but told 
such a plausible story to tlie Confederate otTicers about being 
a Confederate scf)Ut with verbal orders from one distant gen- 
eral to another that he was allowed to depart. The first time 
he was detailed on scout rluty his two companions were shot 
and killed. ( )ii his ne.xl trip his comrade and his own horse 
were killed when they were 18 miles inside of the Confederate 
lines, but Rowand managed to dodge the enemy's bullets and 
get back alive, vowing at every jump never to go on scout duty 
again. He soon recovered from his fright however, and started 
out «)n another trip. While with vSheridan he was asked to 
locate the notorious partisan leader. Major Harry Gilmore 
and. if |x)ssible. elTect his capture. 

C.\rTl'RIv OF MAJOR GILMORE. 

After several davs, hard work, he found Gilmore stopping iti 
a large country mansion near Moorfield, West \'irginia. 

This he reported to Sheridan, who sent witli him al)()ut fifteen 
scouts under Colonel Voung. They dressed in Confederate 
uniforms, and. followed by 300 Federal cavalry at a distance 
of several miles, to be of assistance if the true character of the 
scouts was discovered, they arrived near Gilmore's command 
about day break and Rowand went forward alone and single 
handed captured the \ idelte with out a shot being fired. The 
somts then entered the family mansion and took Gilmore out 
of bed and back to Sheridan's headquarters. Rowand s most 
»iotablc exploit was when, in company with James A. Campbell, 
he carried imjxirtant dispatches from Sheridan to Grant. 

Sheridan hafl been ordered to pass around to the west of 
Richmond and effect a junction with Sherman in N'orth Caro- 
lina, but. owing to heavy rains and swollen streams, he had been 



52 HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. 

delayed until the Confederates had time to throw a heavy force 
in his front and prevent his advance. It was necessary to in- 
form Grant of the state of affairs, and Rowand and Campbell 
agreed to perform the perilous journey. They dressed as Con- 
federates, entered the enemy's lines and passed within eight 
miles of Richmond. They had been in the saddle continuously 
for 48 hours and within two miles of the Chickahominy River 
when some Confederate scouts recognized them, although they 
had previously held a conversation with Lee's chief of scouts 
and gotten away undetected. By hard riding they reached 
the river ahead of their pursuers, and Rowand plunged in and 
seized a skiff, which was floating in the stream. They aban- 
doned their horses and reached the other side of the river, just 
as the Confederates came up. They were fired at and ordered 
to halt, but this only stimulated them to greater exertions. 
After running ten miles they reached the Union line. Here a 
new difficulty confronted them. 

The Lieutenant in charge of the pickets refused to believe 
their story that they were Sheridan's scouts and was inclined 
to hang them as Confederate spies. They finally induced him 
to conduct them to the Colonel, who immediately forwarded 
them to General Grant's headquarters. While sitting at 
Grant's desk waiting for him to come, Rowand and Campbell 
both fell asleep, the first time in over two days. General Grant 
awakened young Rowand by tapping him on the shoulder, 
and, after reading the dispatches which were written on tissue 
paper rolled in tinfoil, and which Sheridan had charged them 
to eat before being hanged if captured. General Grant ordered 
that every attention should be given them. They were taken 
in charge by several officers and were presented to Mrs. Grant 
and a number of officers' wives who were there at the time. 
While thev were at headquarters the two daring scouts, who 
had come through the confederate army, were feasted on the 
delicacies of the season, and had a bottle of champaign at every 
meal and a few between times. 

After the fighting ceased, and when the war closed, General 
Sheridan took Companion Rowand with him to Louisiana and 



HKROISM 1 •!•' Tin: AMIvRICAX VoI.rNTKICR. 53 

then in Aujjust, 1S65, lie was luinorably discharged and returned 
h< nif. ComjKiiiion Rowaiid is by profession a lawver and 
holds a high position as a member of the Pittsburg bar. 

ACHIKVHMKXTS OF A ROV. 

A lx)y from Montgdmcrv County of our own State, Henry 
Irwin Vohn, had a n'markable experience. When the war 
began he was too young to enlist, hut, in August, 1S63, having 
reached the mature age of 14 vears, he left school, bade good- 
bv to the mother whom he was ne\er to see again, as she died 
before his return, and enlisted in Comj)any G, First United 
States Cavalry, for five years. While the war had been in 
progress for more than two years, he was not too late to have 
a good share of the fighting and, under Pleasanton, Buford, 
Torbert. Merritt and Sheridan, was in all the cavalry fights 
frt^m White Sulphur Springs to Appomattox, 34 battles in all ; 
Bamett's Ford, Todd's Taveni, Spottsylvania, Beaver Dam, 
Yellow Meadow Bridge, MechaTiics\ille, Hanover Junction, 
Haw's Shop, Old Church, CoUl Harbor, Trevillian Station. 
White House Landing, Deep Bottom, Petersburg, BerryA-ille, 
Ccdar\ille, Winchester. Kearneysville, Smithfield, Opequan 
(Winchester), I'isher's Hill, Wa\niesboro, Mt. Crawford, Tom's 
Brook. Cedar Creek, Middletown. Gordonsville, Waviiesboro, 
186.'>. Dinwiddie Courth(^use, Five Forks, Sutherland's Station. 
Sailor's Creek, Appomattox. 

CAVALin'MAX AT FOURTEEN'. 

Young Yohn was not a musician, but a regular cavalryman, 
doing the whole duty of a man in the ranks; a strong, healthy 
and judging from his present appearance, handsome b<:)y. 
When the Civil War closed he had still more than two years to 
sen.'C. and was sent with his regiment to the Southwest to fight 
the Indians, and there was severe and heavy fighting and 
plenty of it at that time. Two years' splendirl service in south- 
cm Arizona, fighting old Cochise and his human tigers, "The 
Chiricauhan Apaches," under General Thomas L. Crittenden, 



54 HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. 

and these two years full of the most exciting adventures and 
heroism on the part of the boy ; not a day or hour but was taken 
up in marching or fighting, and because of his gallantry and 
intelligence, he won the stripes of a sergeant, finally ending 
his term of service and receiving from his commanding general 
the following strong and unusual indorsement on his discharge : 

"A faithful and brave soldier and intelligent non-commis- 
sioned ofhcer. " Then follows on the document the long list 
of the battles and engagements in which the young soldier had 
participated. 

While there were large numbers of boys of 14 in the volunteer 
service and particularly in the infantry, I question if there was 
another so young doing a man's full duty in the regular cavalry 
or with such a splendid and enviable record. 

PENNSYLVANIA'S PROUD DEEDS. 

At Gettysburg: While almost every State can claim to 
have had regiments on that field which fought until they had 
made the glorious record of more than 50 per cent, killed and 
wounded, our own State was not behind in the wonderful fight- 
ing. 

The 141st Pennsylvania Infantry lost 64.6% 

The 26th Pennsylvania Infantry lost 56.9% 

The 149th Pennsylvania Infantry lost 50 % 

The 150th Pennsylvania Infantry lost 50 % 

The 151st Pennsylvania Infantry lost 56 % 

The 75th Pennsylvania Infantry lost 56 % 

New York has several regiments on this Roll of Honor at 
Gettysburg : 

The 1 nth New York lost 71 % 

The 80th New York lost 50.9% 

The 126th New York lost 55 % 

The 147th New York lost 60 % 

The 82d New York lost 50 % 



MliKdlSM «)I* TIIIC AMFCRICAN VOLUNTEER. 55 

New Jersey at (.kttysburg had the Kleveiith Infantry with 
a loss of 54 per cent.; Michigan was there with the Twenty- 
fcnirth Infantrv, losing 64 per cent. ; Indiana, with the Xine- 
teeiitli and Tweiilietli Infantry, losing 56 and 54 per cent., re- 
specti\ely; Wisconsin, with the Second Infantry, losing 59 
j)er cent.: New IIanii)shire, with the Fifth Infantry, losing 50 
per cent.; .Massachusetts, with the Fifteenth Infantry, losing 
50 per cent.; and, hnally, Miiniesota, with the First Infantry, 
K)sing S2 per cent. 

Not alone at Gettysburg, but on otlier fields we find the same 
glorious record of heroism. 

HEROIS.M AN'D VALOR. 

At Manassas the One Ilundretl and First New York lost 64.6 
per cent.; iMfty-iighth Pennsylvania, at Fort Harrison, lost 
56.5 per cent.; Twenty-fifth Massachusetts, at Cold Harbor, 
lost 61.9 per cent. ; Thirty-sixth Wisconsin, at Bethesda Church, 
lost 53.3 per cent. ; Twentieth Massachusetts, at Fredericksburg, 
lost 68.4 per cent.; Eighth Vemiont, at Cedar Creek, lost 53.2 
jHT cent.; Kighty-first Pennsylvania, at Fredericksburg, lost 
5'). 7 per cent.; Twelfth Massachusetts, at Antietam, lost 61.4 
per cent. ; First Maim, at Petersburg, lost 63.6 per cent. ; Ninth 
Louisiana (colored), at Milliken's Bridge, lost 64 per cent.; 
I'ifth New Hampshire, at I'redericksburg. lost 57.2 per cent.; 
Ninth Illinois, at .Shiloh, lost 62.4 per cent.; Ninth New York, 
.It Antietam, lost 59.2 i)er cent. ; iMfteenth New Jersey, at Spott- 
svlvania, lost 54.2 per cent.; Sixty-ninth New York, at Antie- 
tam, lost 61.8 per cent.; Fifty-first Illinois, at Chickamauga, 
lost 52.6 per cent.; I'ifth New York, at secv)nd Bull Run, lost 
7^ per cent.; Ninety-third New York, at Wilderness, lost 58.9 
per cent.; I'ifteenth Indiana, at Missionary Ridge, lost 59.5 
per cent. ; Seventh Ohio, at Cedar Mountain, lost 58.6 per cent. ; 
Sixty-third New York, at Antietam. lost 58.7 per cent.; Tliird 
Wisconsin, at Antietan\ lost 58. 8 per cent.; One Hundred Forty- 
first New York, at Opequan, lost 58.7 per cent.; Fifty-ninth 
New York, at Antietam, lost 52.8 per cent.; Second Wisconsin, 
at Manassas, lost 52 1 pir cent.; Forty-fifth Peimsylvania. at 



56 HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. 

Cold Harbor, lost 50.5 per cent. ; Sixth United States (colored), 
at Chapiii's Farm, lost 54.8 per cent. ; Fifteenth Massachusetts, 
at Antietam, lost 52.8 per cent. ; Fourth United States (colored), 
at Chapin's Farm, lost 56 per cent.; Twenty-sixth New York, 
at Fredericksburg, lost 53 per cent.; Fourteenth Indiana, at 
Antietam, lost 56.2 per cent. ; Twelfth New Hampshire, at Cold 
Harbor, lost 50.5 per cent. 

What a tale of death and blood, heroism and valor, devotion 
and love of country these figures tell I 

Colonel Sidney Burbank's Brigade, of United States Infantry 
at Gettysburg lost exactly 50 per cent, of all the officers; the 
Seventh United States Infantry lost 51 per cent. ; fighting over 
the wheatfield, Seventeenth Infantry lost 53 per cent.; Tenth 
United States Infantry lost 52 per cent. 

These are some of the commands that beat the world's record 
for heroic fighting, and these figures speak of the killed and 
wounded only. Many were the missing in each of these com- 
mands, with the exception of the First Minnesota, and, undoubt- 
edly, many of those were among the dead, but I speak only of 
those who were known to have been killed or wounded, and those 
alone are counted in this paper. 

GREAT RECORD AT FORT HARRISON. 

The Fifty-eighth Pennsylvania Infantry made its great rec- 
ord at Fort Harrison, September 29, 1864. The attack on 
Fort Harrison was made to either enable our troops to capture 
Richmond by the north bank of the James or to cause the Con- 
federate commander to withdraw forces from his right, and thus 
materially assist General Grant in his movement of our extreme 
left at Petersburg. The attack was made by the First Division 
of the Eighteenth Corps, and General vStannard, who com- 
manded the division, lost his arm in the fight. The regiment 
was compelled to march over open ground for full three-quarters 
of a mile before reaching the fort, every moment exposed to 
the fire of the enemy without an opportunity of returning it. 
By the time the Fifty-eighth reached the ditch in front of tlie 
works, eight color bearers had fallen in succession, and nearly 



hi:r<msm i>f Tin-: amicrican x'or.rxTiiRR. 57 

50 j)tr CL-iit. (>t till,' imn, hut, without a nionu-nt's hesitation, 
the others leaped into llie open trench and began cUmbincj the 
works. Captain Cecil Clay, of C()m{)any K, seizin;:;; the Hag of 
the One Hundred Ivightv-eighth Pennsvhania, dnj\e his sword 
into the bank, and, placing his foot on the handle, used it as a 
step. One of his men. seizing him by the leg, threw him up 
on to the- top I if the works. As he reached the crest of the 
banquttle two pri\ates, Johnston and Copeland, got there at 
the same moment. Johnston fell wounded and Copeland fell 
dead. TIk- right arm of Captain Clay was shot off, but he 
seized the colors in his left and waved them aloft. The men 
of the I'iftv eiglith crowded each other in their efforts to climb 
the works, and after a territlc hand-to-hand stniggle the fort 
was taken. The Adjutant, Joseph Iv. Johnson, of the Fifty- 
eightli, was perhaps the first man of the regiment to enter the 
fort He was wounded twice before reaching the works, and 
was shot the third time after entering the fort. Congress 
Mtxlals of Honor were awarded to Captain Clay, Adjutant 
Johnson and I.irutenant Nathaniel Mclveown, of the Fifty- 
eighth, and for the same fight metlals were awarded to Captain 
William S. Hul)bcll. of the Twenty-first Connecticut Infantry, 
and I'rixate W'iUiain I. ('.raul, of the One Hundred Eighty- 
eighth Penns\lvania Infantrv. and Cajitain Samuel B. Home, 
oi the Klexenth Conincticut Infantrv. 

The I-'ift\- (.■i:;tith ri'nnsvhania Infantrv was recruited in 
Warren, McKean, Cameron, Clinton, Northumberland, Luzerne 
and Totter Counties, in our State. The first Colonel, J. Rich- 
tcr Jones, was killed at Haclielor's Creek. N. C, May 23, 1863. 
At Fort Harrison the loss was 5()J j^cr cent, killed and woimded. 
Among the killed were Captains Theodore Blakeley and Daniel 
I". Linn, and Lieutenants Joseph Iv. Johnston, Thomas Bir- 
mingham, Robert Hedian and Captain Cecil Clay were among 
these severelv wounded 

CHAPINS l-ARM. OR NICW MARKLT HEIGHTS. 

The battle known by this name was fought at the same time 
as the successful assault on I'ort Harrison, and was, in fact, 



58 HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. 

but a part of the same action, being an extension of our line 
to the right. In this battle the colored troops sustained re- 
markable losses and performed a most conspicuous part. 
Their heroism was great and their fighting superb. The 
Fourth United States Colored Infantry lost 56 per cent., killed 
and wounded, and of the 12 of the color guard, 11 were killed 
and wounded, and Sergeant Major Christian A. Fleetwood 
gained a Congress Medal of Honor for saving the flag of his 
regiment. This gallant regiment was recruited at Baltimore, 
in July and August, 1863. 

The Sixth United States (colored) made also a remarkable 
fight at New Market Heights, losing nearly 55 per cent, killed 
and wounded and not one missing or unaccounted for. Captain 
McMurray's company lost 87 per cent., the greatest of any 
organization during the whole war. 

At my request one of the survivors writes me the following 
account of the day: 

"To understand clearly the battle of September 29, 1864, at 
Chapin's Farm, Va., and the heavy losses sustained by the 
Sixth United vStates Colored Infantry in that action, it is neces- 
sary for us to understand something of the position of the two 
opposing forces and of the conditions under which the attack 
was delivered. 

"The Eighteenth Corps, consisting of three divisions of three 
brigades each, under Major General Birney, was massed on 
the north side of the James River, near Deep Bottom .The whole 
command was under orders to march at daybreak on the morn- 
ing of the 29th for an attack on Fort Harrison. The command 
was to mo\'e by the left, which threw the Third Brigade of the 
Third Division in front. 

"This brigade was made up of the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth 
Regiments of U. S. C. I., under command of Colonel Samuel 
A. Duncan, of the Fourth. Our formation was in brigade line 
of battle, with the Fourth on the right; then the Fifth and, of 
course, the Sixth on the left, and in this formation we were to 
move. 



HEROISM OF Tin; AMERICAN VoUlNTEER. 59 



RUSH INT, TO DEATH. 

"The first position of tlie enemy on the road toward Fort 
Harrison was some two miles from our camp, in a northwesterly 
direction, and consisted of earthworks strengthened by a good 
abattis, and further guarded by a sluggish stream, swampy in 
places, about three or four yards wide, with slimy banks and 
cozy, sticky bottom. This stream ran nearly parallel to that 
side of the earthworks which we attacked and was some 60 to 
80 yards distant from it. Tliis face of the works formed one 
of the adjacent sides of a re-entrant angle, from the other side 
of which an enfilading fire could be poured over the entire 
inner bank of the stream. And it was across this stream and 
into this angle and against this abattis that it was the fate of 
the Sixth to charge. 

"Wc formed line of battle, as stated above, in the earliest 
dawn of the 29th, and, according to order, as soon as we could 
see to take aim, we began our march. Captain Weinman, of 
the Sixth, in command of the brigade sharpshooters, covered 
our front and was followed by A and K companies of the Sixth, 
in command of Captain R. B. Beath, deployed as skirmishers. 

"Our orders were that as soon as the enemy was found, to 
strike and drive him as rapidly as possible,' and we were as- 
sured that the whole cf^mmand would be at our backs to sustain 

ST0RM1{I' WITH HU LLHTS. 

"Our route was througli a fairly open wood, up the slope of a 
hill; then along its crest, finally dipping gently toward cleared 
or partly cleared land. We had barely reached the crest of the 
hill when firing began between the shar|Dshooters and the enemy. 
In a few moments the firing was increased by volleys from their 
picket reser\ es, and then a scattering and receding fire told us 
that our men had them on the run. Striking a double quick, 
wc followed down the slope and soon were in the thick of it 
ourselves and getting it hot. For the Sixth had come squarely 
on that re-entrant angle and upon that muddy stream, too wide 



60 HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. 

to be jumped over and too miry to be waded through, but 
which, nevertheless, had to be passed over. To hesitate was 
to die on the outer side of the stream. So officers and men 
plunged in and struggled through as best they might and 
climbed the opposite bank. But they had no sooner gained 
their feet than they were swept off them again by a storm of 
bullets from the left, delivered with great accuracy and intenific 
volume. The Color Guard went down to a man, and York, 
Sheldon and Landon and Meyer — in fact, almost every line 
officer of the regiment went down before it, either in the stream 
or on this inner bank. Captain York fell while taking the 
regimental colors from the dying color bearer, and Lieutenant 
Meyer, in trying to carr\' them forward after York had fallen. 
The national flag went down time and again and finally reached 
the front in the hands of Sergeant Kelly, of Company F, who 
was fortunate enough to carry it and live. The regimental 
flag was taken from the dead hands of Lieutenant Meyer by 
the Adjutant of the Regiment, N. H. Edgerton, who started 
forward with it, but went down within two paces of Meyer, 
struck by a ball which shot his hand at the wrist and cut the 
staff of the flag in two ; but, finding that only his hand was 
gone, he sheathed his sword, took the flag in his other hand and 
carried it to the front of the abattis. Colonel Ames, already 
wounded in the fleshy part of his leg, and less than a score of 
the rank and file were there, waiting to make a further advance 
if men enough could be got together to make it possible. But 
when he learned that all who had crossed the stream were with 
him, he said: "Well, boys, we can't break through this line 
with half a dozen men. Fall back behind the stream." 

"This was accomplished with little further loss, although 
some firing was still kept up, for the powder smoke was now so 
dense that it was impossible for the enemy to see us, and the 
firing was done at random. 

"So ended a happening that for percentage of casualties 
stands almost unequaled. And of these casualties almost all 
were either in the creek or in that slaughter pen between it and 
the abattis. 



HEROISM <>F THK AMERICAN' VOLUNTEER. 61 

■"Captain Bcath, who commanded the skinnishers, and Lieu- 
tenant Colonel Royce were, I think, the only exceptions among 
the oflicers. both of them being shot, if I remember correctly, 
before we reacheil the stream." 

IvXTRAORDIXARV DARING 

Captain John McMurrav, that splendid oflicer whose com- 
pany lost the wonderful percentage of S7 killed and wounded, 
also tells me the story of the awful day: 

"Those who are familiar with the movements of the troops 
under Grant during the siege of Petersburg will remember that 
on September 29, 1S64, Cjeneral Warren was pushed out on 
the extreme left of our line in an attempt to capture the W'eldon 
Railroad, while at the same time the Tenth Corps, commanded 
by Birney, and the liighteenth Corps, under General Ord, were 
thrown against the defenses of Richmond, on our extreme right. 
"In this mo\ement we fonned part of the Eighteentli Corps. 
Harlv on the morning of September 29 we were astir, and before 
sunrise were on the march directlv toward tlic Confederate, 
entrenchments at the foot of Spring Hill, or New Market 
Heights. 

"In contemplating now the results of that dav I have been 
led to see the wisdom of God in concealing from man what is 
before him as 1 never saw it before. Had I known when I 
arose that morning what was in store for mv ct^mpany or my 
regiment within the next two or three hours I would have been 
entirely inifitteil for the duties of the day. In mercy and 
kindness I was allowed to see onlv what each moment revealed, 
and, seeing that and only that, I went forward, trying to do 
the best I couUl and hoping for the best results. 

FACING TIII-: RII'Li; TITS. 

'"As I ri number the distance now the line of Confederate 
works toward which we were moving was somewhere between 
a mile and a half and two miles from the river at the point 
where we left the steamer, .\bout half of this distance we 
marched bv the tlank, or "endwise," as Isaac TuUer said. Then 



62 HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. 

we formed in line of battle, our regiment on the left of the line 
and the Fourth next on our right. Soon after forming thus we 
emerged from a wood into an open field, on the top of a little 
hill. Just as we reached this field we could see the first rays 
of sunlight glinting from the treetops and a score or two of 
Confederates scampering across the field before us, turning 
once in a while to shoot back at us. They were the men who 
had been on the picket line, and were falling back before us to 
their line of entrenchments. 

"The field through which we were passing was nearly 40 
rods in width, as I remember it now. From the edge of the 
wood the ground descended slightly toward the Confederate 
rifle pits. Between the far edge of the field and this line of 
rifle pits had been a strip of woods 10 or 12 rods wide, through 
which ran a little stream parallel with the works. All the 
timber in this piece of woods had been cut down, forming a 
slashing in front of their line, very difficult to pass through 
the trunks and limbs of the trees impeding our progress at 
every step. Our brigade was marched across this open field 
and halted at the far side, just at the edge of the slashing. 
There we were fonned in line with as much accuracy and care 
as though we had been on parade. Every man and every 
officer was in his place. Every captain or company commander 
was in the front rank, his first sergeant was directly behind 
him in the rear rank and the lieutenants and sergeants stood 
a step or two behind the rear ranks of their companies in their 
places as file closers. Back of these a few paces stood the field 
officers of each regiment, and still back of them were the brigade 
commander and his staff officers. 

FORWARD AS ONE MAN. 

"During the time we were straightening and adjusting our 
line, and while we stood there after it was all arranged, not 
a Confederate bullet was fired at us. I have no doubt that the 
Confederates looked on with great interest, thinking no doubt 
what a lot of fools we were. I know there was a big lot of 
thinking done by us as we stood there. We knew there was 



IIEiROISM nV TMI- AMHRICW V( )LUNTE;KR. 63 

a strong lint- of Confederatos behind the ritle pits across the 
slasliing frcjin us. We knew that, as soon as \vc would move 
ft)rward, they would open fire on us. 

■■\Ve knew the order to go forward woultl soon be given. 
But beyond that, what? Woidd it be death, or wound, or 
ca])ture' Would it be \ ictory or defeat' How the scenes and 
deeds of the past came nishing in on the mind like a mightv 
flitod ! That was perhaps the most tr\-ing fwe mimites we 
endured in all our army life. It woukl take the pen of the 
brightest angel that ever stood before the throne of God to 
write the thoughts of the men who stood in that line that bright 
Sejitember morning. My heart almost stands still now as I 
write these lines and try to recall some of the thoughts that 
came to me then. 

■ I-'inally we heard the voice of Colonel Duncan, our brigade 
commander, saying, "Forward!" and as one man we plunged 
into the slashing. And I want to say for the honor of the regi- 
ment, and the whole brigade, that I believe not a man turned 
his back to the enemy. 

"'The jx)int where we attacked the Confederate line was 
about a mile and a half to our right, and the Confederate left, 
of Fort Harrison. Why we were directed to attack there I do 
not think an oflicer in our brigade knew. And I think they 
were equally ignorant of what was taking place at other points, 
We learned afterward that near the time of our attack, perhaps 
a little later. General (Jrd with the larger portion of the Eigh- 
teenth Corj)s assaulted Fort Harrison, on theChapin Farm, one 
of the outer defenses of Richmond, and our attack at Xew 
Market Heights was merely to prevent the Confederate troops 
there from being sent to strengthen the line at and near Fort 
Harrison. 

RANKS GROWING THINNER. 

■ At the command Forward !' our line advanced immcdiatelv 
plunging at once into the slashing I have already described, 
lust as the aimmand was gi\en Lieutenant Johnson, of mv 
compan\-. in an excited way, began to swing his sword over 



64 HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. 

his head, describing with it a series of circles. He had not 
completed more than three or four of these when a Confederate 
bullet struck him on the wrist, and the sword, flying off at a 
tangent, struck the ground 18 or 20 feet away. He was taken 
to the rear and then to hospital at Fort Monroe, and I did not 
see him again for several months. 

"But the rest of us pressed on toward the Confederate line, 
picking our way through the slashing as best we could. It 
was slow work, and every step of our advance exposed us to 
the murderous fire of the enemy. We had little chance for 
firing and might almost as well have had no muskets. Some- 
times and in some places they were absolute hindrance to us. 
As we urged our way onward we were utterly unable to protect 
ourselves in any way. As we advanced I noticed our ranks 
getting thinner and thinner and wondered what had become 
of the men. I saw fewer and fewer of my own men, and won- 
dered if any of them had turned back. Then I passed my first 
sergeant. Miles Parker, shot through the leg. He was sitting 
down and greeted me cheerfully as I passed by saying, 'Never 
mind me, captain, I'll get along all right.' And as I pressed 
on as best I could, urging the men forward, I passed others 
of my company, some killed and some wounded. I saw that 
my company was suffering heavy losses, but thought of little 
else than pressing forward and keeping the men moving on. 
When about half way through the slashing I came to a large 
oak tree that had been felled. At the same moment three or 
four members of the color guard came to the same spot. We 
were close by the stump of the tree, and the way forward seemed 
to be through an opening between the trunk of the tree and its 
stump, less than three feet wide. Involuntarily, almost, I 
paused to let the colors go ahead of me. I followed close after, 
and just when the last of the men carrying one of our flags (we 
had three) was right in the opening between the stump and the 
tree trunk he was shot through the breast and fell back against 
me, almost knocking me over. The loss of his life there abso- 
lutely saved mine. 



l!i:K<iISNt oK Till-: AMKRICAN Vnl.r.NTHKR. 65 

GOIXC; ]{ACK WAS WORSE. 

'"Wo pressed oil until \vc got through tlio slashing, into an 
open space bcforL' the Confederate rifle pits. Just then Colonel 
Anus and I happened to come together, the first time we had 
met in the fight. He was as a)ol, apparently, as though there 
was not a Confederate within miles of us. Our line seemed to 
bo \erv thin. I noticed Lieutenant Meyer, of whom I wrote a 
while back, as he stood a rotl or two in advance of us. As I 
looked at liim lie was shot tlirough the body — I think through 
the heart. When hit he was standing directly in front of a brush 
pile, alx)ut two feet high and four or five feet across. When 
he turned he sprang right over this, falling dead on the other 
side. 

"As we stood there, and just as Lieutenant Meyer was killed, 
Colonel Ames said: Captain, don't you think we had better 
fall back i" We liaveirt force enough to take this line, and if 
we remain here we will j^robably all be killed.' I answered 
frankly that 1 thouglit the best thing we could do was to fall 
back. Then he said: Take the men back as quickly as you 
can, but keep them well in hand, and don't let them get demor- 
alized." And then we started back. And the going back was 
worse than the coming up, because to be shot at with your 
back to the enemy is always more annoying. Vou feel then as 
if utterly helpless. 

Finally we got through the slashing and back to the open 
ficUl, passing on the way several dead and some wounded men. 
As soon as we reached the ojnii field each ofTicer began to gather 
l.'s men together so as to refonn the regiment. The very best 
I oiuld do I couKl only find three of mv companv, and I won- 
dered where all the others were. I had not yet learned what 
my loss was. Wlun I learned it fully I admit I felt sick and 
discouraged. 

"In the field, some 10 or 1.^ rods from the edge of the slashing, 
wc came to where Colonel Royce was sitting or Iving, seemingly 
exhausted. His feet were in a hole in the ground made by a 
Confederate shell As he was going back, just as he reached 



66 HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. 

that Spot, a shell struck the ground under him, making quite 
a hole, into which he dropped. His first feeling was that both 
legs had been shot off, but we soon convinced him they were 
not. His legs were all right, and he walked back with us. He 
had been wounded earlier in the fight. 

GREAT COMPANY LOSS. 

' 'We fell back until we passed a rise in the ground where we 
would be protected from Confederate shells. There we halted 
and formed what was left of our regiment. When we had 
gathered up all our men, and ascertained in one way or another 
who were killed and who were wounded, we found our loss to 
be nearly 55 per cent. And all the fighting was done with 
musketry. But very few shots were fired from the artillery, 
and none of them harmed us. And all this loss was in eight 
companies, save the two killed and three or four wounded in 
Company A. The loss in my company was 11 men killed, one 
officer and 15 men wounded and one man captured. I entered 
the fight with 30 enlisted men, one ofiicer and myself — 32 all 
told — and came out with three enlisted men and myself. My 
loss was seven out of eight, or 87 per cent. And I was the only 
officer left in three companies in the centre of the regiment. 
Over one-third of my men were killed and seven-eighths of 
them were killed and wounded. 

Captain Robert B. Beath lost his leg, but, refusing to be 
retired, was promoted to lieutenant colonel of the regiment, 
and since the close of the war filled the honorable position of 
Commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, and 
is a loved and respected citizen of Philadelphia. 

AT SECOND BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 

It is a pity that more detail is not known of all and every 
one of those great commands that lost so greatly and made 
such a world record for heroism. The war closed, the surviv- 
ors were mustered out and went back to their homes ; the farmer 
to the plow, the merchant to his store, the schoolboy to college 
and the mechanic to the workshop and became the best and 



HMRoIS.M (iF Tin: AMICRICAN V' )M 'NTIiKR. 67 

most hiw-iibidinj; citizens of the Republic, not one of thcin 
thinking of the sj)len(iicl heroism displayed or tliat thev had 
done anything more than their duty. 

So the days passed and no one thought of writing the glorious 
history. Of many of these regiments there is no written record, 
and while the |xiet laureate sounds in glowing language the 
praise of the Six Iluinlred at Balaklava," with their 37 per 
cent, loss, our noble c<:)nuuands, with twice the loss, are being 
forgotten, their praises unrecorded and unsung. 

The regiment that, next to the I'irst Minnesota at Gettysburg, 
lost the largest percentage of all was tlic Fifth Xew York Infan 
try at the Second Rattle f)f Hull Rtm — 76 per cent, killed and 
woimded and not one missing or unaccounted for — and, com- 
paratively si)eaking, very little is known of the historv or detail 
of the fight matle by that cf)mmand. It was another of the 
regiments that made a world-wide record in heroism. At the 
Second Battle of Hull Run, August 30, 1S62, the regiment went 
into action with 462 olTicirs and men; in less than ten minutes 
136 lay dead <>r mortally wounded, 203 wounded and 17 missing 
who wer«. afterward found to ha\ e died in the enemv's hands — 
a total of 76 per cent. The only command showing a greater 
percentage of loss was the I'irst Minnesota, at Gettvsburg. 

The I'ifth New York was commanded in the battle bv Colo- 
nel G. K. Warren, that gallant soldier who afterward com- 
maiuled tin- I'ifth Cori)S. Warren, seeing an exposed ix)int 
in our line of battle and the panimount necessitv of holding it. 
place<l tliere the command that so heroicallv defended the 
ptisition. I/ingstreet's Confedcnite Corps lav in front and. 
preceded by a terrific artillery fire, advanced to the attack. 
Hood's brigade in advance, with the I'irst, Fourth and Fifth 
Tc'xiis, I-'ighteenth Georgia and the Hampton Legion. Less 
than half a regiment was there to meet the onslaught; trulv 
.1 forlorn hoj^e ' Hut the brive Zouaves never faltered. Thev 
returned the fire promptlv and efTectively, while the rifles of 
the enemy played mercilessly the song of death. A few min- 
utes and all was over. Almost amiihilated, but neither con 
quered nor disgraced, the men slowly retired, carrving with 



68 HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. 

them their flags and some of the wounded. One gallant soldier, 
James W. Webb, of Company F, received a Congress Medal of 
Honor for the part he took in the fight. 

BATTERY THAT HAS GREATEST RECORD. 

The battery that made the greatest record for square, stand- 
up fighting and remarkable loss during the war was the Eleventh 
Ohio, at luka, Miss., September 19, 1862. I have previously 
remarked that it is a pity that not more detailed information 
is in existence regarding these brave commands, but fortunately 
my esteemed friend and comrade. Colonel Cyrus Sears, who 
commanded the battery on that occasion, is still living and 
sends me a copy of a letter written by him three days after the 
fight. It is a wonderful story, a vivid recalling of a terrible 
day of war, blood and heroism. 

"luKA, Miss., September 22, 1862 
"Dear Brother: 

"Our long-continued marching orders (which we had then 
had for 16 successive mornings) came to an end in the midst 
of a heavy rainstorm at 4 o'clock of the morning of the 18th, 
when the Army of the Mississippi finally did start in quest of 
General Price and Company, then supposed to be prowling in 
this vicinity. It seems to have been the arrangement that 
several thousands of Grant's army, under General Ord, were to 
have taken a northerly road and come in on the enemy's rear, 
when Rosecrans should attack in front 

"The Armv of the Mississippi, on the ISth, marched about 
10 miles — nothing of importance but rain and mud occurring 
to us. From our bivouac by the roadside we resumed our 
march and quest at daybreak next morning — the Fifth Iowa 
Regiment in advance, and the Eleventh Ohio Battery imme- 
diately following. 

"Skirmishing with the enemy's pickets commenced at about 
10 o'clock, and thence continued all along the way, several 
having been killed and wounded on both sides before the real 
battle commenced. When within about five miles of this 



ni;kiii>M I'K Tin; AMi'Kic.w vmi.i .\ti;i;k. 69 

place we supjK)se<l \vc had found the enein\- m force, and 
formed our lines of battle accordincjlv. Soon we discovered 
our mistake, and moved forward with greatly increasing skir- 
mishing, until, arriving within about a mile and a half of this 
place, a \ollev from the enemv's artillerv and infantry hastened 
us into line on tlie double quick. Our front (I-'irst Brigade) 
was now in the form of a much spread A — the Eleventh Ohio 
Battery occupying the square-toed point, the Fifth Iowa its 
right arm and the Torty-eighth Indiana and Fourth Minnesota 
its left, with the Twenty-sixth Missouri close in rear of the 
right of the battery and erxtending to the right, with the Six- 
teenth Iowa a little further to the rear of the left and extending 
to the left, and both now protected by the ridge. 

■'The battery's position was on the brow of a ridge covei^^d 
with yoimg timber too thick to admit the manoeuvre of artil- 
lery, had there been time or occasion for it. 

LOSS rX PARALLELED. 

"Before we had time to fonn in battery two divisions of the 
enemy commenced charging us. We soon reciprocated, in 
our kind, as fast as possible, and — was to pay in less than no 
time. The enemy seemed to concentrate upon the battery, 
which, accordingly, suffered most severely. 

■ The total casualties in the battery are 16 killed and 3S 
wounded, out of 10.^ (as near as I can ascertain), including 
officers, engaged. The action did not seem to last more than 
10 to 20 minutes; but it is doubtful whether the history of war 
funiishes a parallel in destruction of, or by, a single battery 
in one engagement. The men of the battery, as a whole, ex- 
hibited the most obstinate and, jicrhaps, even foolhardy brav- 
ery. 

"Of our first line of battle, tlu- battery seemed to be the first 
to commence business and the last to quit, before the reserve 
(from Sca)nd Brigade) came to the rescue just at dark, when the 
men of the battery able to do so fell back ; the guns being tem- 
porarily abandoned, between the opposing belligerents — neither 
of which dared to take them away. Instances of personal 



70 HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. 

bravery never surpassed were exhibited at almost every piece, 
a few of which I will mention. 

' 'Acting Corporal Buckley alone fired two or three shots from 
his piece after every other cannoneer of his squad was killed or 
disabled. 

"David W. Montgomery, carrier of ammunition, continued 
at his post until the last, when, knowing there was a load in his 
piece, he seized the lanyard and discharged it right in to the 
bellies of the enemy. As he did so he was throttled by a big 
'Secesh,' who raised his gun to brain him. 'Davy' got rid of 
this part of the rebellion by cracking it over the head with a 
canister and sending it to grass, then dodged under the limber 
into the brush and saved so much of the Union. 

"Henry McLaughlin made a full hand, after being wounded 
four times, once severely. Several others did the same with 
one or more wounds. 

' 'John Ettle, after being mortally wounded by a shot through 
his body, passed me for ammunition. As he did so he pulled 
his shirt back, showing me the wound, from which the blood 
was freely flowing, and remarked, while smiling as though it 
were only a joke: 'Well, Lieutenant, I guess Fve got h — 1, see ! 
But Lm going to try to help give 'em a few rounds yet.' Suit- 
ing his actions to his words, he continued at his post until he 
fell — where he died in a very few minutes. And there was a 
dead hero if God ever made one. Sev'cral of the wounded are 
severely hurt; two or three of them probably mortally. 

"Although the battery was thus severely handled, it fully 
reciprocated. It fired about 150 rounds — mostly canister, 
and much of this double canister — right into the eyes of the 
enemy, doing terrible execution. 

HORvSES OUT OF SERVICE. 

"Our first line was now overpowered and borne back, leaving 
the pieces temporarily between the combatants. Forty-two 
of our horses were killed on the spot and nearly all the rest dis- 
abled. Every commissioned and non-commissioned officer's 
horse shared a similar fate. I have no definite idea of the total 



hf;ki>is.m ok Till- AMi-RicAN v< ti,i \ti;i;r. 71 

kilK'd i>r wounck-d on tilhcr side in the battle, but know it was 
(.onipanitively larjje on lx)th. Next to the battery, the Fifth 
h)w;i sufTeri'd most se\-erely. So far as I can learn, the action 
of tin- batter\- was not only satisfactory to all, but it has elicited 
till- hii^lust praise. Colonel Lothrop, Rosecrans's chief of ar- 
tillery, told lue the morning after the fight that he did not be- 
lieve there was a case on record where a battery had been so 
badly slaughtered or where the men and officers exhibited more 
braverv during an engagement. 

"The able for duty of Rosecrans's armv have gone in pursuit 
of the eneniv. What is left of the battery is here to be repaired 
and recruited as soon as possible. 

"Vou will j)erceivc that, finally, the Ivleventh Ohio Battery 
has experienced the 'no\eltv' and fun' of a fight; and, though 
I tnist that what are left would exhibit the same gallantry again 
if ciiUed ujxin to do so imder similar circumstances, I don't 
think many of us will spoil' for another dose like that of the 
l''th. The men not disabled buried their 16 dead comrades 
together in one grave -hole —under the shadiest tree conve- 
nient on the battlefii'ld on the morning of the 20th. Riding 
past from our bivouac in tlie woods to this place I was able to 
witness the rite briefiv. It was cnule. but very sad. Xo 
shrouds, coffins, songs or audible prayer; yet, I believe, with 
as much real respect and genuine sorrow as in the most pom- 
I>oiis and circumstantial funerals in peace. And I feel sure these 
diad patriots will sleep and dream as sweetly in their common 
enide grave as anv mausoleumed king; and that Gabriel's last 
tnunp if in discriminating hands -will find them as quickly 
and as will prejxired as anv, tlnnigh most of those boys did in- 
arlvertentlv let slip a few "cuss words' occasionally when the 
amenities of the situation seemed to call for them. There was 
Ivttic, king among heroes, though uncrowned save by gallant 
deeds richer and more glorifying than any gold or jewels. The 
wounded, including mvself, are (juarlered in rebel houses turned 
into hosjiitals in this place, and receive as good care as circum- 
stances seem to pemiit. When able to write myself I may 
give you further particulars. CYRUS SEARS. 

(Dictated.) 'Per William H. Doxon." 



72 HEROISM OF THK AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. 

TEAMSTER'S HEROISM. 

Of the 103 men of this battery in this action 54 were can- 
noneers. Of these 48 were killed or wounded — over 88 per 
cent. — leaving an average of but one cannoneer able for duty 
for each gun. The drivers were considerably protected by the 
ridge where the guns were and did not suffer much. But of 
these there was at least one dead hero — John Dean. Just as 
the guns were being abandoned and all the able-bodied were 
trying to save themselves Dean was seen by a comrade holding 
his team right where it stopped after his piece had been taken 
into battery. Dean's team was the leading one to the limber. 
Two or three horses of the six to this limber were then dead or 
dying, and the rebels were close and very "hot." This com- 
rade asked Dean why he did not save himself as others were 
doing. Dean replied "My sergeant ordered me to hold this 
team right here, and by G — d, I'm going to do it or die till I 
get proper orders to do something else." Next morning he 
was found still holding his team right there with a death grip 
on his bridles— Dean stretched, dead — all those six horses 
dead, but still hitched to the limber. He sleeps under the tree 
with the rest. 

The Confederate reports of the battle pay the highest com- 
pliment to the battery. In his official report of this battle 
Confederate General Price, in specially complimenting his 
Third Louisiana and Third Texas Regiment for their prowess 
in charging this battery at luka, after noting their previous 
glorious record, says: "In this, the hardest fought fight which 
I have ever witnessed, they well sustained their bloodily won 
reputation, as the accompanying report of killed and wounded 
will testify." 

CONFEDERATE COMPLIMENTS. 

And here is what the Confederate Colonel Whitfield says 
about it in his report : On the afternoon of Friday, September 
19, we formed in line of battle about one mile south of luka on 
the Bay Springs road, the enemy appearing in large force. 



ni:R(»i>M or riii-: ami;kic\\ \t>i,r\Ti:i:k. 73 

S<')Oii after pcltiiij; in position I was ordered to move mv coin- 
inaiul in the direction of the cnem\-, which was tlien about 300 
yards ofT. After ha\ing advanced about 100 j^accs tlie enemy 
opened a very heavy fire with j^rape and canister from their 
artillery, besides a shower from their small anns. Under this 
gallinp fire mv command mo\ed on, and, when within about 
150 yards of the enemy, I discovered that unless the battery, 
was immediately silenced the result might be most disastrous, 
and gave the command to charge, which was responded to by 
loud cheers from my command and the Third Texas Cavalry — 
being then dismounted — and at a double cjuick they moved up 
and captured the six gun battery, which I am informed by one 
of the lieutenants, had been charged eight times before in differ 
ent fights unsuccessfully." 

Mark the balance of Colonel Whitfield's report, to wit: "In 
this short but hotly contested charge I sustained a loss of 106 
of!'icers and men, most oi whom fell at or immediately about 
the batter\ " As wc sliall see j)resentlv the loss in this charge 
t)f the Third Texas dismounted cavalry is not included in this 
106, for a Confederate corresjxjndent writing to the Confeder- 
ate Mississippian under date of September 24, 1862, says of 
Trices Third Brigade in this fight: "They charged and took 
the battery which was doing so much damage after a desperate 
struggle, piling the ground with the dead. The Third Ix)uisiana 
Regiment of this brigade entered the fight with 238 men and 
lost lOS in killed and wounded. The Tliird Texas fared about 
as badly. " And, as we shall show, we had repelled two charges 
before this was made in which, doubtless, we "had done the 
State some service." 

This from the report of (n'ueral Rosccrans. commanding 
the Ann\ of the Mississippi: 

"The enemy's line of inf.iiUr\- now moved forward on the 
battery coming up from the woods on our right on the Fifth 
Iowa, while a brigafle showed itself on our left and attempted 
to cross the road toward Colonel Purczcl. The battle became 
furious. Our battery {X)ured in a deadly fire upon the enemy's 
column advancing up the road, while the musketry concen- 



74 HEROISM OF THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER. 

trated upon it, soon killing or wounding most of the horses. 
When within 100 yards they received a volley from our entire 
line and from that time the battle raged furiously. The enemy 
penetrated the battery, were repulsed, again returned, were 
again repulsed, and finally bore down upon it with a column 
of three regiments (doubtless the Colonel Whitfield charge) 
and this time carried the battery. The cannoneers were, 
many of them, bayonetted at their pieces. Three of the guns 
were spiked. In this last charge the brigade of Texans, which 
had attempted to turn our left, having been repulsed by Pur- 
czell turned upon the battery and co-operated in the charge. 
The Forty-eighth Indiana, which lay in its track, was obliged 
to yield about 100 yards, where it was supported by the Fourth 
Minnesota. 

"Sand's Eleventh Ohio Battery, under Lieutenant Sears, 
was served with unequaled bravery, under circumstances of 
danger and exposure such as rarely, perhaps never, has fallen 
to the lot of one single battery during the war." 

HONORED BY CONGRESS. 

The Eleventh Ohio was organized in Cincinnati in 1861 from 
recruits gathered in Athens, Butler, Hamilton, Vinton and 
Wyandotte Counties. The men were specially equipped and 
made a fine appearance in camp parades. 

"Mrs. General Fremont presented the company with a silk 
guidon when it reported for duty at army headquarters in St. 
Louis. Such incidents were common in those days, and cer- 
tainly no one supposed that that little banner would sometime 
float over the bloodiest single field battery contest on record." 

For the magnificent fight that Lieutenant Sears made with 
his guns he was awarded the Congress Medal of Honor; every 
man of the battery should have had a Medal of Honor and not 
one medal would have been misplaced. The Medal of Honor 
was not the only reward conferred upon Lieutenant Sears. 
He was commissioned lieutenant colonel of the Forty-ninth 
United States Colored Troops, and, with that gallant regiment 
fought until the close of the war, making another splendid 



HEROISM « "F THi: AMIvRlCAN \-< H.fNTKKK. 75 

rtcord for Ihc Milor displayod by that i(.j;im(.ni at Millikcn's 
lu lui, wlicn- thf losses ucrt- almost as great as that of his bat- 
t« r> at liika, and finally, at the close of the war, \vas recom- 
inendcd for bre\et brij^'adicr general. Colonel Sears is now a 
banker at llarpster, ( )hio, and no one would imagine tliat tlie 
quiet, tuiassuming cili/en, whom e\ery one loves and honors, 
could e\ er ha\e been the stern soldier and heroic commander 
of th( i;ie\enth Ohio Battery at luka. 

The battle of luka was fought September 19, 1862, General 
Kosrcrans commanding the Union troops and General Price 
the Confederate. It ended in a Union victorv, although the 
enemy had a nnich larger force. And so the writer rejoices in 
ret-ording the heroism r>f the commands herein named, "The 
American Xdlunteer, " whose c(jual as a soldier has never yet 
ajip^ared on earth. 



